Fame
by Hope3
Summary: *FINISHED* I'm bad at summaries, but I'll say this much: It takes place after Harry and all graduated, it features a girl who's famous in the Muggle world, and, oh, there's a mystery.
1. Meet Stacy Arrons

Baby, look at me  
And tell me what you see  
You ain't seen the best of me yet  
Give me time and I'll make you forget the rest  
  
I got a story  
And you can set it free  
I can catch the moon in my hand  
Don't you know who I am?  
Remember my name:  
  
Fame, I'm gonna live forever  
I'm gonna learn how to fly high  
I feel it coming together  
People will see me and die  
Fame, I'm gonna make it to heaven  
Light up the sky like a flame   
Fame, I'm gonna live forever  
Baby, remember my name  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Stacy Arrons was not your typical ten year old to begin with. She had been born into one of Hollywood's favorite families. Her father was a popular director and her mother was an award winning actress. Her family was seen as the ideal American family.   
Stacy had been into acting since before she could walk. She had started small. A few commercials here and there. By the time she was four, she had been given her first major acting role. When she was eight, she had been cast into "The War", the biggest movie Hollywood had seen in years. [A/N: That was for you, Christine.] She had won the Oscar for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture for her role as the main character's daughter in "The War".  
Her mother had cried when she won. She had hugged Stacy so hard she couldn't breath for a minute after she let go. Stacy couldn't remember much about the ceremony. Her mother had made her wear a pink dress that was a smaller version of her own dress and a pair of itchy tights. She remembered posing for countless photos with her parents before the Oscars. The press loved her family. After she had her picture taken by every major newspaper and magazine in the country, Stacy had gone into the building with her parents. Her award was one of the first few given. After accepting it, and causing the whole crowd to buzz about how precious she was, she had gone into the press room for the standard interviews. When she was done with the press conference, she had gone back to the auditorium to sit with her parents. Stacy fell asleep about ten minutes after her return.  
Hollywood was a vicious town. That was one of the first facts of life Natalie Arrons had taught her daughter. She always said if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere. Stacy didn't have the same thirst for fame as her parents. Her mother adored the spotlight and took every possible oppurtunity to be in it. She had a huge fan following, and an egually large group that despised her.   
While Natalie was about as American as you can get, Tom Arrons had been born and raised in London. He moved to California when he was nineteen to follow his dream of being a director. Natalie and Tom met at a studio where she was making her first movie when they were both twenty one. They were married a year later. Stacy was born two years after their marriage on June 20, 1995.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
"Stacy!" Natalie Arrons yelled. "Hurry up!"  
Stacy sighed. Some birthday this was turning out to be. Her mother had woken her up at six a.m. to go to a charity breakfast for famous mothers and daughters. Stacy hated the sort of people who attended these affairs. Everyone pinched her cheeks and squealed about how adorable she was and how she looked just like her mother. It was enough to make Stacy want to run away from home.   
After breakfast, her mother had taken her to the mall for a special birthday shopping spree. The whole mall had virtually stopped when the pair came in. People rushed toward them to get their autographs and pictures. Stacy had cowered behind her mother as she signed an autograph for all 137- Stacy had counted- of the people. It always amazed Stacy how people reacted to her mother and now to her as well. No matter where they went someone recognized one of them. Stacy often dreamed of going somewhere no one had ever heard of her. Somewhere she could blend in and just be Stacy, not the famous Stacy Arrons of the legendary Arrons family. Little did Stacy know, she was about to get her wish.  
"Stacy!" Her mother bellowed. "We're leaving. The reservations are in thirty minutes."  
Stacy sighed again and looked at herself in the mirror. Her mousy brown hair was held up with a blue ribbon. She had "borrowed" some of her mother's lip gloss, so her mouth was extra pink. Stacy was glad her mother had let her pick out her own clothes for once. Her mother normally insisted on choosing her clothes because she was afraid Stacy would end up on a list of the worst dressed celebrities if she didn't. Stacy was wearing her favorite blue sweater and a long black skirt with a pair of black sandles. The outfit almost made her feel like a normal girl, not her mother's doll.  
"Stacy!" Her mother screamed.  
"I'm coming!" Stacy called. Heaven forbid Natalie Arrons be more than fashionably late for dinner reservations. It would be the talk of the nation.  
The front door swung open as Stacy reached the bottom of the stairs. "Dad!" She cried in surprise. "What are you doing here?"  
Her father grinned at her. "What do you mean 'what am I doing here'? I live here, silly."  
Stacy grinned back. "I thought you were shooting that movie in Austrailia."  
"Well," He replied. "I was, but then I got to thinking. What's more important, some soon-to-be huge blockbuster or my favorite daughter's eleventh birthday?"  
"I'm your only daughter!" Stacy laughed.  
Just then, Natalie hurried into the room carrying the mail. "Look, Stacy," She exclaimed happily. "All my friends sent you birthday cards. Here's one from Melanie Serta. Oh, and she sent you tickets to her concert here next week. You'll have to send her a thank you letter. Here's one from-"  
"What's that?" Stacy asked, eyeing an envelope that her mother had just dropped. It said:  
  
  
Ms. S. Arrons  
The Blue Bedroom  
87 Lake View Drive  
Hollywood   
USA  
  
Curiously, Stacy opened the envelope as her mother continued to prattle on about all of the marvelous birthday cards her respectable friends had sent.  
The envelope held two pieces of paper. The top one read:  
  
HOGWARTS SCHOOL   
of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY  
Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore   
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,  
Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)  
  
Dear Ms. Arrons,   
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.  
Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.  
  
It was signed by the school's Deputy Headmistress, Minerva McGonagall.   
The other paper was a list of supplies which included a wand and a cauldron. Stacy stared at the letter for a minute before saying, "Is this a joke?"  
Her mother stopped her endless chatter and frowned at her. "Stacy, what have I told you about interrupting people?"  
"Is what a joke?" Her father asked and took the letter from her. A large grin spread across his face as he read it. "You got in!" He exclaimed happily.  
Natalie snatched the letter from him. "A school of witchcraft and wizardry!" She laughed. "You can't be serious."  
"I went there," Tom said proudly. "I didn't think they accepted Americans. I suppose they made an exception for you, Stace."  
Natalie and Stacy looked at him strangely.   
"You went there, Dad?" Stacy asked.  
"How do you think I got all those cool special effects for my movies?" He winked at Stacy.  
"Well, you won't be going there," Natalie spoke up. "You're filming a movie this fall. You couldn't possibly go to a school in England when you're supposed to be here."  
"Of course she's going, Natalie," Tom replied calmly. "It's the chance of a lifetime and Stacy's true calling."  
Natalie looked like she was going to fight the subject, but instead gasped loudly as she looked at her watch. "Come on!" She shouted shrilly. "We're late!" She opened the door and dashed out the door.  
Tom and Stacy followed her laughing.   
"Do you think I'll like it there?" Stacy asked her father.  
"You'll love it," Tom replied. "It's a wonderful school. The very best for learning magic."  
Stacy smiled to herself as she climbed into the family limousine. Maybe this birthday hadn't been so bad afterall.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
The world got smaller and smaller as the airplane lifted up into the sky. Stacy rested her head back against her seat. It had been three weeks since her birthday and she was finally going to London to get her school supplies. Her father had wrapped up his movie in Austrailia and was more than willing to help her ready to go to Hogwarts.  
Her mother was another story though. Natalie wasn't upset anymore, just embarrassed that her daughter had pulled out of a movie deal- even if Stacy had never been formally involved with the movie. Stacy had hoped her mother would come with them, but Natalie had declined, saying she had too much work to do at home and she couldn't possibly leave the country now. Her father endearingly said Natalie was a muggle and would be overwhelmed by what they were going to do in London.  
The flight was a peaceful one. Stacy enjoyed the feeling of soaring through the sky, as long as they didn't go through any storms. They landed in London around eight at night. Tom's mother Roxanna- also a Hogwarts graduate- was waiting to greet them at the gate when they came out.  
"Tom!" She cried. Roxanna ran up to her family members and hugged them. "Stacy!" She exclaimed, admiring her granddaughter. "You've grown. You must be taller than your mother now." Stacy smiled at this. She had always been short until over the summer when she had a small growth spurt.   
"Where can we get some food?" Tom demanded. "I'm starving."  
"We just ate on the plane," Stacy said.  
"Well, I'm a growing boy," Her father joked. "Did you cook dinner, Mom?"  
Roxanna laughed. "Don't I always? Let's go back to my house and eat."  
  
Rain poured all across London as Stacy and her father made their way toward Diagon Alley after a quick breakfast.   
"Do you know where we're going?" Stacy asked anxiously. None of the stores they were passing looked like they sold the sort of things she needed for school.  
Tom laughed. "Of course I do. Went there every year for seven years to get my supplies."  
The walked silently through the London streets for about ten minutes after that until they reached a small, old-looking tavern. Tom pulled Stacy inside.  
"This is the Leaky Cauldron," He told her. "We go through here to get to Diagon Alley."  
Stacy followed her father to the back of the tavern where he tapped a brick with what Stacy assumed was his wand. To her surprise, the wall opened and an archway formed leading to an alley with shops.  
Tom pulled the supplies list out of his pocket and studied it for a minute. "Let's go get your books first," He suggested.  
They spent the rest of the morning buying everything from magic books to Stacy's Hogwarts' robes to her wand. Stacy loved her wand right away. It was one of the prettiest things she'd ever seen. It was a foot long, made from a cedar tree, and contained a unicorn hair. Stacy loved how it was shiny. She couldn't wait to learn how to use it.  
They were about to leave Diagon Alley, when her father exclaimed, "You need an animal!" He grabbed Stacy's hand and led her to Eeylops Owl Emporium.  
Fifteen minutes later, they left the store with a snowy white baby owl. Stacy decided to name the owl Ana, after the character she had played in "The War".   
"Tom!" A man yelled as he ran up to them. "How are you? I haven't seen you around here lately."  
Tom grinned at the man. "Jacob, how are things? How's your family?"  
"They're great," Jacob answered. "I'm just here getting my son, Benjamin," He gestered to a boy who was standing with a group of other boys outside Ollivanders. "Ready for school. He's going to start his first year at Hogwarts in September."  
"Really?" Tom replied. "So's Stacy." He put a hand on his daughter's shoulder.  
"Dad!" Benjamin called as he ran over to his father. "Do you have five Knuts? They're selling Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans for one Knut per bag!"   
Jacob reached into his pocket and fished out five bronze coins for his son. Benjamin started to leave, when Jacob said, "Why don't you take Stacy with you?"  
"Stacy who?" Benjamin asked, looking around.   
"Tom's daughter," Jacob replied. He glared at his son as if to say 'be nice'.  
Benjamin rolled his eyes and muttered, "Come on."  
Stacy turned bright red and followed him after her father had handed her a couple Knuts. She hated meeting new people. After all of her experiences growing up in Hollywood, one would think she would be used to it. But, Stacy had always been more content to stand in the background. She was only outgoing when she was acting. There was something about pretending to be someone else that brought her out of her shell.   
"Who's she?" one of the three boys Benjamin had been with earlier asked as they walked into the candy store.  
Stacy took a deep breath. "I'm Stacy Arrons."  
"I'm Peter Trey," The boy said cheerfully. "That's Justin Taylor and that's Greg Adams." He told her as he pointed to the other boys. "I guess you know Ben Wright already."  
Stacy greeted all of the boys and followed them up to the Bertie Bott's table. It was strange meeting people her age who didn't beg her for her autograph or talk to her like she was below them. It was almost like the boys had never heard of her.   
"Where do you live?" Peter asked Stacy.  
Stacy looked at him in surprise. She thought everyone knew about her family. "I live in Hollywood."   
"Where's that?" Peter asked. Her surprise must have obvious because Peter turned slightly pink and said, "I'm really bad at geography."  
"It's in California," Stacy informed him.   
"So, you're from the U.S. then," Justin stated.  
"Yeah, that's where my family lives. Except my grandmother."  
"Are your parents Muggles?" Greg inquired.  
"My mother is. My father's a wizard though." Stacy almost laughed out loud. They were almost as bad as some of the reporters she had had the pleasure of being interviewed by. If they asked her if she had a boyfriend or if she really got along with her parents, she was going to suggest they get a job with "Entertainment Weekly".  
The conversation changed then as the boys started discussing something called Quidditch. From what Stacy picked up from their discussion, Quidditch was sort of like the Wizarding world's equivalent to basketball.  
"Why can't first years be on the house Quidditch teams?" Greg complained.  
"I know," Justin agreed. "There hasn't been a first year player since Harry Potter."  
"What house do you want to be in?" Peter asked Stacy.  
"House?" She asked, a note of confusion in her voice.  
"I hope I'm in Gryffindor," Benjamin said. "That has to be the best house."  
"As long as I don't get Slytherin I'm happy," Greg stated.  
"What are you talking about?" Stacy asked. She was starting to wish her father had told her more about Hogwarts and the Wizarding world.  
"There are four houses at Hogwarts," Justin told her.  
"You're put in the one that fits your personality best," Benjamin finished.  
"Do they give you a personality test or something?" Stacy asked. She suddenly pictured herself being given one of those tests in her mother's beauty magazines that were called something like 'How Jealous Are You?' or 'Are You A Fashion Victim?'. Somehow that didn't seem right.  
"We don't know," Justin said. "My cousin says it's really hard though."  
"Stacy!" Her father called as he walked into the store. "Ready? Our flight leaves in three hours."   
Stacy picked up her bag of candy and said good-bye to the boys.  
She was just out the door when she heard Peter yell, "See you September 1st!"   
She grinned and waved at them through the window. She couldn't wait for school to start.  
  
To Be Continued...  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter series. It belongs to J.K. Rowling and Scholastic. The beginning is the song Fame from the movie Fame, which I also do not own. I'm not sure who does, but it's not mine.  
  
Author's Notes:  
Thanks for reading this! I hope you liked it. Please review. I want to know whether anyone likes it, so I know whether to continue it or not.  
I'm not sure if I'm going to have Harry, Ron, Hermione, or any of the other characters appear in the story. The teachers will in the next part. I might work the other characters in later. I'll see.  
I got the idea of this because I thought it would be interesting to have someone who's the opposite of Harry. Stacy's famous in the Muggle world, but no one's heard of her in the Wizard world.  
Ok, that's it. Please review, but don't flame it. If you have something negative to say, be nice about it, please. =)  
Oh, and sorry for any spelling and grammar mistakes. I'm sure there are several...   
- Hope 


	2. A New Beginning

Author's Note:  
There are a few things I'd like to make sure are clear before the second chapter starts. This story is taking place in 2006. This means that Harry and friends graduated about nine years before it starts. Voldemort was defeated by Harry at the end of his seventh year.  
Also, I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed the first part. It makes my day to get a review. =)  
In response to some of the reviews, the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher should seem familiar... haha And, I plan to work his friends into it- at least for the last part.  
Thanks for reading my story! And, once again I'd like to say please review- but don't flame- and sorry for any spelling and grammar mistakes.   
-Hope   
  
It always amazed Stacy how time could be so mean. Whenever she wanted something to last forever, it went by in the blink of an eye. In her case, she wanted time to fly by, but it was creeping along like a slug. Stacy had been counting the days until school started ever since she got back from her trip to London.  
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, it was August 28. Stacy was going to fly to London the next day to stay with her grandmother for the last two days of vacation. It was going to be the first time Stacy traveled on a plane by herself. Her father was in Ohio with his latest film project and her mother was in New York doing the talk show route to promote her latest movie.   
"I can't believe you're going to England for the whole school year!" Stacy's best friend, Mandy Payer, exclaimed for the tenth time that hour when she surfaced. The two girls were in Stacy's backyard. Mandy was in the pool and Stacy was sitting on the edge dangling her feet in the water. "What am I going to do without you?"  
"I'll be home for Christmas," Stacy pointed out.  
"Yeah, but you know my family always goes to Vermont over the holidays. I might not even see you!" Mandy gave her such an overly dramatic look of pain Stacy couldn't help laughing.   
The girls were as different as night and day. While Stacy was petite with mousy brown hair, Mandy was tall with sun-streaked blonde hair. Mandy looked more like a movie star than Stacy. She had the confidence and cockiness of one, but Mandy wasn't interested in acting. She preferred swimming. Her goal in life was to make it to the Olympics.  
"I'll write to you all the time," Stacy promised. She didn't know how she'd get the letters to Mandy, but she'd figure it out.  
"You better!" Mandy exclaimed. "I want every detail of your life."  
"Um, right," Stacy stammered. She hadn't told Mandy what kind of school she was going to, and didn't plan on telling her.   
Suddenly, Mandy grabbed her arms and pulled her into the pool. "Mandy!" Stacy shouted angrily when she lifted her head out of the water. Mandy laughed and splashed her with a wave of water. Stacy giggled and splashed her back.   
The girls spent the next hour swimming and practicing their cannon balls until Mandy's mother, Cara, came to pick her daughter up.  
"Stacy," Cara remarked as Mandy went to get her things. She'd spent the weekend at Stacy's house. "Mandy tells me you're not going to return to La Anglia next year." La Anglia Prep School was the local private school for grades K-12.  
"I'm going to a boarding school in England," Stacy told her.  
"That's too bad," Cara said sadly. "We'll all miss you."  
"I'll miss you too," Stacy replied with a touch of unhappiness.   
"Ready, honey?" Cara asked as Mandy came into the room carrying her overnight bag.   
"Yup," Mandy answered.  
"Do you have everything?"   
"Mom, I'm eleven, you don't have to-" Mandy dashed back upstairs to Stacy's bedroom and returned with her hairbrush. Her mother smiled, but didn't say anything. Instead, she opened the front door and hugged Stacy good-bye.   
"Bye, Stace," Mandy said sadly. "Write me, ok?"  
"I promise," Stacy replied. "You write too, k?"   
Mandy nodded and followed her mother out the door.  
"Bye!" Stacy yelled after them. Then, she ran up to her bedroom and closed the door. The house was silent for once. Despite the thirty some maids, cooks, and other workers, she felt completely alone.   
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
"Miss Arrons!" an impatient voice hissed in her Stacy's ear. "Miss Arrons! Please wake up!"  
Stacy lifted her head off her pillow to see Maria, the housekeeper, standing above her.   
"Your flight is leaving in two hours, Miss Arrons," Maria continued. "Please get yourself dressed and come downstairs for breakfast." Maria turned on her heel and walked briskly out of Stacy's bedroom.  
Stacy pulled herself out of bed and put on her favorite pair of jeans and a white t-shirt. She brushed her hair and twisted it up into a clip. She grabbed her carry on bag and went downstairs. Her trunk of clothes and school belongings had been shipped to her grandmother's house the week before.   
Breakfast went by quickly since Stacy was the only one sitting at the long dining room table. She was too nervous about the flight to eat any of the gourmet dishes the chefs had fixed her, but managed to nibble on a bagel and cream cheese she made herself.  
Maria ordered all of the servants come to say good-bye to her. Stacy felt ridiculous as the limo drove off with thirty-two people dressed in black and white waving to her from the front lawn.  
Stacy got onto the plane without any major delays or problems. She only had to sign autographs for seven people. Most people did not recognize her with her sunglasses on or just didn't care about her since Natalie was not there.  
The flight was surprisingly fast. Stacy watched the in-flight movie, ate lunch, and took a nap. She woke up as the pilot announced they were about to land.   
Her grandmother was waiting for as she stepped off the plane. It was eight at night when she arrived and they went to eat in a café down the street from the airport.   
  
Roxanna watched her granddaughter with interest. Stacy had ordered a bowl of soup for dinner and just sat there staring bleakly at it.   
"What's wrong, Stace?" She asked after ten minutes of silence.  
"Nothing," Stacey lied.  
"Really? Sure fooled me," Roxanna replied with a twinkle in her eyes.   
"It's just," Stacy started, then paused and stared at her soup again.  
"Yes?" Roxanna urged.  
"What if no one likes me? What if I fail all my classes? What if I get homesick? What if there was a mistake and I wasn't really accepted? What if-"  
"What ifs don't accomplish anything," Roxanna advised. "And, of course people will like you. You have never had problems with that before."  
"But, that's because people know who I am there."  
Her grandmother looked confused for a moment. "Well, of course you're going to have to introduce yourself to people, Stace. But, so is everyone else. No one new is going to know everyone."  
"I mean, I'm famous there. I'm not here."  
"Do you really think your friends in California like you just because of your status?"  
Stacy shrugged. "It's crossed my mind."  
"Stacy," Her grandmother said kindly. "It is natural to be worried when starting a new adventure, but you will be fine. You will not fail your classes. You were accepted by Hogwarts because of who you are, not who I am or who your father is or who your grandfather was. Because of you."  
Stacy smiled slightly. "What if I get homesick though?"  
"You may at first, but I'm sure Hogwarts will quickly become your home."  
The nervousness started to fade from Stacy's face.   
Her grandmother smiled at her. "It'll be fine." She reassured her.   
Stacy sighed and began to eat her soup.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
"All aboard for Train Number 876!" A man's voice crackled over the loud speaker.  
"It's not up there," Stacy said nervously as she looked at the list of leaving and arriving trains.  
"Of course not," Roxanna told her. "The Hogwarts Express is never listed. A Muggle might find it then."  
They were rushing through King's Cross Station to get Stacy on her train on time. Finally, they reached platforms nine and ten.   
'Where's platform nine and three quarters?' Stacy thought. Before she could think about it too much, Jacob and Ben Wright came up from behind them.  
"Hello, Roxanna. Hello, Stacy," Jacob greeted them. He was just as cheerful as he had been when Stacy met him Diagon Alley. "Ready to go to Hogwarts, Stacy?" He asked.  
"I think so," She answered.   
"Dad!" Ben exclaimed nervously. "It's almost eleven!"  
"Come on, then," Jacob ordered without a touch of anxiety in his voice. He led Ben through the barrier between the platforms and Stacy followed with her grandmother.  
A train was waiting on the other side of the barrier. Hundreds of students were standing about talking and getting ready to board the train. Stacy felt her grandmother's hand on her shoulder as they made their way through the train to the last car. Roxanna got on the train with Stacy and helped her put her belongings in the overhead storage racks. When she was satisfied her granddaughter was settled, Roxanna hugged her good-bye and went back outside to watch the train leave.  
Stacy glanced around the car. It was empty except for herself and a young man with black hair and glasses sitting in the last row of seats. He noticed Stacy staring at him and glanced up from the book in his lap.  
"Hello!" He called. "Is this your first year?" Stacy nodded. "It's my first year teaching," He continued. "This should be an interesting year. I used to go to Hogwarts. As a student, of course."  
Before Stacy could say anything, the compartment door swung open and a girl with bouncy blonde curls came in.   
"Anyone sitting there?" She asked referring to the empty seat next to Stacy.  
"Go ahead," Stacy told her.   
The girl sighed and flopped down in the seat. "Thank God. If I had to spend the whole ride with my sister and her friends, I'd-"  
The compartment door opened again and an older girl with equally bouncy curls came in.   
"Courtney!" The girl exclaimed. "What are you doing? Mom told me to keep an eye on you."  
Courtney glared at her sister. "Well, Mom's not here, is she Rachel?"  
Rachel glared back at her. "Fine, but don't get into any trouble or I'll tell Mom!" She turned around and left the car.  
Courtney turned around and smiled at Stacy. "Do you have any sisters or brothers?"  
Stacy shook her head. "I'm an only child."  
"You are so lucky! I only have Rachel and she drives me insane. She thinks she can boss me around just because she's five years older than me and a prefect."  
"What's a prefect?" Stacy asked curiously.  
"Oh, do you come from a Muggle family?"   
Stacy frowned. Why was everyone so interested in what sort of family she came from? "My mom's a Muggle, but my dad's a wizard," She replied.  
"It's the opposite for me," Courtney told her. "My mom's a witch, but my dad's about as Muggle-ish as you can get. He's a builder." She paused. "I'm Courtney Flowers, by the way."  
"I'm Stacy Arrons."  
"Do you live around here?" Courtney asked curiously. "You don't sound British."  
Stacy shook her head. "I'm from California."  
"Really?" Courtney asked. Her eyes lit up. "I always wanted to go there. Do you live near any movie stars?"  
"You know about movie stars?" Stacy asked. She was clearly taken by surprise.  
Courtney nodded proudly. "My father goes to see movies sometimes. I've never been to one. My mum is afraid the Muggle magic will be a bad influence on me. Dad told me about them though. Do you suppose they're really stars? Maybe they come from the sky."  
Stacy almost laughed. "I don't think so."  
Just then, the car door opened again and Ben and his friends came in.  
"Hi Stacy!" Peter said. "Mind if we sit in here? It's getting too noisy out there."  
"Sure," Stacy replied.   
"Hi!" Courtney said as the four boys sat down. "I'm Courtney Flowers. Who are you?"  
Peter, as usual, was the first one to speak up. "I'm Peter. That's Justin, Greg, and Ben." He pointed to each boy as he said their name.  
"Is this your first year too?" Greg asked Courtney.  
Courtney nodded. "I'm so excited. I didn't think I'd be able to wait until it was my turn to come here. It's my sister Rachel's sixth year. She's been bragging about how great this school is ever since her first year."  
"I know how that is," Justin spoke up. "My cousin Brad's in his third year. He rubs it in my face everytime I see him."  
"Who's he?" Ben asked, pointing to the man in the last row who was now asleep.   
"He's a new teacher," Stacy told them.  
"I bet he's teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts," Justin whispered. "Brad says they get a new teacher for that class every year."  
"What house is your sister in?" Peter asked Courtney.  
"She's a Ravenclaw," Courtney said. "So was my mum. I hope I'm not one. I'll go crazy if I'm in the same house as Rachel."   
"Brad's a Slytherin," Justin informed them. "Everyone in my family has been one."  
"You don't want to be one, do you?" Ben asked him, looking worried.  
"Not really," Justin said. "But, I hope I'm not in Gryffindor. My father would disown me if I was."  
"My parents were both in Hufflepuff," Greg spoke up. "That's probably where I'll be."  
The conversation came to a holt as a woman came in with a cart of food. Stacy bought herself a bag of Chocolate Frogs.   
The rest of the train ride went by quickly. Stacy talked to her new friends about everything from Quidditch to what classes she was interested in to what their families were like. Stacy left out some details about her parents- such as their professions.  
Before she knew it, night had fallen and the train arrived at Hogwarts. Everyone put their Hogwarts robes on over their clothes when a conductor came in to tell them they were almost there. Five minutes later, a voice came through the room instructing the students to leave their belongings on the train because they were going to be taken up to the school later.   
Stacy stepped off the train with Courtney and the boys. The glanced around awkwardly waiting for someone to tell them what to do.  
"I believe you're supposed to go with him," The new teacher said as he stepped out of the train. He pointed to a tall man with long, thick black hair and a beard who was yelling for the "firs' years" to come with him. He motioned for the group to follow him and he walked over to the tall man.  
"Hello Hagrid!" The teacher exclaimed brightly.  
"Harry!" Hagrid bellowed, hugging the teacher. "What are yeh doin' here?"  
Harry grinned and replied. "Professor Dumbledore sent me an Owl asking if I could fill the Defense Against the Dark Arts position this year."  
Stacy heard Justin hiss "told you."   
Hagrid grinned too. "It's great to have yeh back at Hogwarts. We've missed yeh." Hagrid looked around the crowd of students and yelled, "Any more firs' years?"   
They waited another minute and no one else joined the group. The crowd thinned as the older students began to leave in carriages. Finally, satisfied that he had gathered all of the new students, Hagrid led them down to the lake where a flock of boats were waiting.   
"See yeh up at the school, Harry!" He yelled over his shoulder.  
Hagrid instructed the students to get in the boats with no more than four per boat. Ben, Greg, Peter, and Justin all climbed into one boat and Courtney and Stacy got in another one with two other girls.  
The boat ride was fun. Stacy and Courtney looked around them in awe. The castle was beautiful with towers and passageways. The other girls in the boat were twins Mary and Carrie Sarers. They were completely identical, but seemed to have very different personalities. Mary was quiet and seemed bookish, while Carrie was very sarcastic and didn't seem to care about studying.   
Once they reached the school, Hagrid led them in where they were greeted by a tall woman with black hair pulled tightly back into a bun.   
"Welcome to Hogwarts," She said as she led through a hallway. "I am Professor McGonagall. In a few minutes, I will take you into the Great Hall where you will be sorted into one of the four Hogwarts houses: Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff, or Ravenclaw." She stopped when they reached an empty, dark part of the hallway. "Please wait here silently. I will return when the Sorting is ready to start." She looked over the group for a moment, then turned and walked into the Great Hall.  
The group waited quietly for several minutes before Professor McGonagall returned and led them into the Great Hall. The older students clapped politely as they made their way to an empty space between the teachers' table and the four tables for students. Professor McGonagall brought a stool out with an old, falling apart hat. The hat sang a song about the different Houses. Stacy watched it with a mixture of amazement and anxiety. Apparently this hat was going to read her mind and decide which house she belonged in.   
Professor McGonagall picked up a roll of parchment and called, "Adams, Greg."  
Greg walked over to the stool with a quick nervous glance at his friends. He sat down and put the hat on. A half minute later, the hat shouted, "HUFFLEPUFF!" Greg put the hat back on the stool and walked over to the Hufflepuff table amongst the cheers and applause from the older students.  
Stacy stood timidly next to Courtney as the other first years with the "A" last names were called up. Finally, Professor McGonagall announced "Arrons, Stacy" and it was her turn.  
"Hmm," a voice whispered. "You're a tough one. You have the brains of a Ravenclaw. That is plain to see. You also are loyal, patient, and willing to work hard. You would make a good Hufflepuff. I can't see you doing well in Slytherin. Though, you do have a concealed need to prove yourself. I can sense a strong amount of courage in you, though it is deeply hidden. Gryffindor could teach you to use your knowledge in new ways. Yes, I think it best be GRYFFINDOR!" The hat shouted the last word to the whole group.  
Stacy stood up tensely and placed the hat back on the stool. It had felt like it took longer to decide her house than it had the previous students. The end table cheered as she walked toward them.   
"Hi!" an older girl said as she sat down next to her. "I'm Penny Prickle. Welcome to Gryffindor."   
"Thanks," Stacy said. "I'm Stacy Arrons."  
"I know." Penny giggled and Stacy turned bright red. Why did she have to blush at the drop of a hat?  
Stacy turned her attention back to the sorting and watched as Bryons, Kurt got sorted into Ravenclaw. Finally, it was Courtney's turn. Stacy felt her heart beating fast as she waited to hear what house her friend was going to be in. At last, the hat shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!"  
Courtney grinned at Stacy and put the hat back on the stool. Stacy couldn't help laughing when she spotted Rachel's mouth opening in surprise.  
"It wanted to put me in Ravenclaw," Courtney told Stacy when she sat down. "I kept thinking Gryffindor, Gryffindor, Gryffindor until it put me here."  
They watched the sorting until it was time for the twins they had crossed the lake with to be sorted. Mary was put in Ravenclaw and Carrie was put in Slytherin.  
After several more students had their turn, it was Justin's turn. It took the hat nearly five minutes, but it finally yelled, "SLYTHERIN!" Justin removed the hat and looked very disappointed. He shuffled along to the Slytherin table looking angry. Stacy felt sorry for him.  
A few more people went and it was Peter's turn. The hat had barely touched his head when it shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!" Peter happily hurried over to the table and sat across from Stacy and Courtney.   
They watched the sorting in silence until it was Ben's turn. The hat was on him for about two minutes until he too became a Gryffindor.   
The rest of the sorting took about ten minutes, then the hat and stool were taken away. A man with a long white-silver beard stood up from his position at the center of the teachers' table. "Hello and welcome to a new year at Hogwarts!" He said happily.   
"That's Professor Dumbledore, the Headmaster," Penny whispered to Stacy.  
Dumbledore continued, "Is everyone hungry?" The crowd cheered. "Then, I suppose we should start the Welcome Feast." He nodded and the dishes were filled at each table. Stacy looked at them in surprise.   
"You'll get used to it," Penny told her.  
"What year are you in?" Courtney wondered.  
"I'm a fourth year," Penny answered.  
"Lucky you," Courtney replied. "I guess you haven't had any classes with my sister."  
"Your sister is Rachel Flowers from Ravenclaw, right?" Penny asked.  
Courtney grimaced. "You know her?"  
Penny nodded and swallowed a bite of chicken before answering, "Everyone does. She's the best Seeker Ravenclaw has ever had."  
Courtney's eyes widened in surprise. "She plays Quidditch?"  
"You didn't know?" Penny stated.  
Courtney shook her head and looked at her sister strangely. "I just figured she spent all her time in the library."  
Penny smiled slyly. "Well, she does that too. She wants to be her class' Hermione Granger."  
"Who's that?" Ben asked. He spit a bit of bread on Courtney by mistake.   
"A girl who spent a lot of time in the library, I think." Penny shrugged. "It's just a saying people use here. I'm not really sure what it means."  
Just then, Professor Dumbledore stood up again and surveyed the students. The majority of them had finished eating. "Before you go to bed," He said, causing the chatter in the Great Hall to stop. "I have a few announcements. I would like to remind you once again that the Forbidden Forest is off limits to students. Also, Third years and up with permission may visit Hogsmeade starting next weekend." A cheer sounded from the older students. "Finally," Dumbledore continued. "I would like to introduce you to our new Defense Agaist the Dark Arts teacher. He went here a few years ago and has agreed to come back this year to teach the class since we are without a teacher because of the unfortunate incident with Professor Agset last year. Please welcome Professor Harry Potter."  
A stunned silence filled the Great Hall for about a minute. Then, students started chattering like there was no tomorrow.  
"Did he just say Harry Potter?"  
"Is it really THE Harry Potter?"  
"It is! It is! I see his scar!"  
"This is so cool!"  
"I can't wait to tell my parents!"  
"I bet he's a really lousy teacher." (That was a Slytherin)  
Professor Dumbledore cleared his throat and the chatter died now. "Before you go, let us sing our favorite song."  
Stacy watched as the older students say the school song to many different tunes including church hymns, Christmas songs, children's songs, and someone sang it to the tune of the Britney Spears song Baby One More Time.  
When the everyone had finished the song, Dumbledore dismissed them. Stacy yawned. She was ready to go to bed. Penny's sister, Joan, was a prefect. Joan led the Gryffindors to their tower. Stacy spotted a painting of an obese woman. She was shocked when the painting opened her mouth and asked for the password. "Tinker bell," Joan announced loudly and clearly, so the whole house heard it.   
"That's right, dearie," the lady said and swung to the side so they could climb in.  
Joan led the girls up to their dormitories. Stacy was sharing one with Courtney and three other first year Gryffindor girls, Jessica Mullan, Christine Gerties, and Julie Schma.   
While the other girls were in their bathroom brushing their teeth, Stacy talked to Courtney.  
"Who's Harry Potter?" Stacy asked as soon as the other girls were gone. She'd been wondering that for the past half hour since Professor Dumbledore introduced him.  
"Who's Harry Potter?!" Courtney exclaimed in shock. "Your father really never did tell you anything about our world, did he?" Stacy blushed and looked down. "Sorry," Courtney continued. "That was rude. It's just so strange to meet someone who hasn't heard of Harry Potter."  
"Well, who is he?" Stacy pressed.  
"He's one of the most famous wizards of our time. He defeated You-Know-Who when he was only a year old."  
"Who's You-Know-Who?" Stacy asked.  
Courtney's eyes widened. "We never say his name. He was a horrible, evil wizard. Anyway, Harry defeated him, but he came back to power thirteen years later. No one believed it at first, until he killed the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge. You-Know-Who was defeated by Harry at the end of Harry's seventh year here."  
"Is he dead?" Stacy asked.  
Courtney nodded her head so hard her curls bounced all over the place. "Harry killed him by kicking a mirror down during their final fight. The curse You-Know-Who meant for Harry was reversed and hit him."  
The other girls finished with the bathroom then. Courtney gathered her things together and went in. Stacy stood up slowly and followed her. Her thoughts were scrambled together. Something about the story Courtney had just told her seemed very familiar. She just couldn't place where she had heard it before.   
A few minutes later, Stacy climbed into bed and rested her head on her pillow. She fell asleep right away, as did the other girls. None of them noticed the invisible figure moving around their bedroom.  
  
To Be Continued... 


	3. The First Week

"What are you doing? Stop chasing me!" Eliza shrieked hysterically. Her heart pounded heavily in her chest as she stopped running in the middle of the town square.   
"You thought you would get away with it," Michael shouted, grabbing her arm. "Did you really think you could kill Mama and Father?"  
The town square became unusally silent as the brother and sister fought. Shopkeepers poked their heads out of their doors for a better view. A curious group circled around the Redas siblings.  
"I killed them?" Eliza screeched. Her whole body shook angrily.   
Michael glared at her with unforgiving eyes. "You're a witch! I saw what you did to them."  
An elderly gentlemen by the name of Morris stepped between them. "There, there. What is all of this talk of death?"  
Michael's eyes filled with tears. "Our parents are- are dead! Murdered!" The crowd gasped in shock. The Redas family had always been one of the most upstanding families of their small Massachusetts village.   
"Murdered?" Morris asked. He was clearly taken aback. Murder was a very rare occurrence in their town.  
"She did it!" Michael cried, pointing a finger at his sister. "I saw her. She had a magic wand of some sort. Shot something awful out of it at our poor parents."  
The crowd gasped again. Several men wrapped their arms around Eliza and started to lead her away despite her protests. The fate of a suspected witch in 1678 was sealed before her trial.  
As she was being led toward the jail, Eliza could be heard screaming, "I will come again."  
  
In her bed in the first years' girls' dormitory in the Gryffindor Tower of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Stacy Arrons woke up shivering.   
Stacy pulled her covers closer to herself. She was asleep for about twenty minutes when she had the oddest dream. It had been incredibley realistic. Something about it felt familiar. That was a feeling she had sensed several times since coming to Hogwarts.   
Stacy rubbed the spot on her arm where her birthmark was. It had burned furiously while she was asleep. The skin around it still felt hot from being under her blankets.   
Stacy sat up and looked around her new bedroom. Her friend Courtney was sound asleep in the bed closest to hers snoring contently. Her other room mates, Jessica, Christine, and Julie, also appeared to be asleep. Stacy sighed and climbed out of bed. She was wide awake now.   
The moon shined brightly in the sky as Stacy sat down on the room's window-seat. She studied the outside of the school with amazement. It was unlike anything she had ever seen before.   
People back home in Hollywood always said her home was magnificent. In fact, to her mother's delight, it had been featured on a television special about celebrity homes. This place was nothing like her home though. The castle was enormous. Just the thought of trying to find her way around it scared Stacy. And, it had magic and ghosts around every corner. This would be the hardest part for Stacy to get used to, but also the most intriguing.  
Her eyes began to feel heavy and Stacy rested her head on top of her arm on the window ledge. She was asleep before her head landed on her arm.  
  
An invisible figure moved cautiously around the bedroom. He watched as she climbed out of her bed and sat down on the window-seat. He stood behind her. Waiting. Finally, Stacy appeared to have fallen back asleep.  
Harry Potter pulled his invisible cloak off after scanning the room one more time. All of the girls were in a deep sleep. He reached into his pocket for the charm Hermione had given him. Harry leaned over Stacy and gently touched her arm with the charm. The charm changed from brown to green.   
Harry grinned and put it back in his pocket. Hermione had been right. She was the one.  
Not that Hermione was ever wrong. She was the best Auror in their age group. Everyone, including Malfoy, admitted it.   
Harry covered himself with the cloak once again and left the room quickly. He had two letters which needed to be sent right away.   
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
"Stacy!" An urgent, extremely persistent voice hissed in her ear for the fifth time. "Stacy! Breakfast began ten minutes ago!"  
Stacy yawned and opened her eyes. Courtney was standing over her, already dressed with her Hogwarts' robe on over her jeans and sweater.   
"Good morning," Stacy said tiredly as she stood up. Her neck ached. That would be the first and last time she let herself fall asleep on the window-seat.  
"Why were you sleeping there?" Courtney asked as she attempted to brush her curls.   
"Umm," Stacy stuttered. "I can't remember." She didn't feel like talking about her dream for some reason. "Do you know what our first class is?" Stacy asked, trying to change the subject.  
Courtney's face lit up. She grabbed a piece of parchment and handed it to Stacy. "Professor McGonagall brought them around while you were still asleep. We have Herbology with the Slytherins first." Courtney made a face at the mention of the Slytherins.   
"They can't all be bad," Stacy remarked. "Justin's nice."  
"There has to be an exception every now and then," Courtney said stubbornly.   
Stacy decided to drop the subject. She'd learned from Mandy that there was really no point trying to argue with a stubborn person. "Ready?" She asked when Courtney finally gave up trying to control her hair.   
Courtney laughed. "Aren't you forgetting something?"   
Stacy glanced down and blushed. She'd forgotten to change out of her pajamas.   
"I'll meet you down there," Courtney called as she left the dormitory.   
Stacy could hear her giggling all the way down the hall. She sighed and put on a purple pullover and khakis. It hadn't seemed that funny to her.  
  
The Great Hall was full when Stacy finally managed to find her way down. She had gotten lost within a minute after leaving Gryffindor Tower. Then, she had run into the ghost Peeves. He told her the "right" way to go. She had wandered around helplessly until a Hufflepuff second year pointed her in the right direction.  
"Overslept?" Ben asked as soon as she sat down.   
"Got lost," Stacy replied. She grabbed the last muffin at their table and put butter on it.  
"And overslept," Courtney teased her.   
"I don't think Peeves likes me," Stacy commented.   
"Peeves doesn't like anyone," Penny remarked as she sat down next to Peter.  
"Don't you have any friends your age?" Ben asked. Courtney kicked him under the table.  
"Ow!" Ben shouted. He glared at Courtney who gave him her best angelic face.   
"Why does Peeves hate everyone?" Peter asked, ignoring the other two.  
Penny shrugged. "What classes do you have today?"  
Peter pulled his schedule out of his robe pocket. "Herbology with the Slytherins and Potions with the Hufflepuffs."  
"They're your teachers." Penny pointed to two men sitting on either side of Harry Potter. "The one on the left is Professor Longbottom. He teaches Herbology. He's a good teacher and nice to everyone. He was a Gryffindor back when Harry Potter went here. The other one is Professor Snape. Whatever you do, don't get on his bad side. You're already on it since you're Gryffindors. He'll make your life here as miserable as possible if he decides he hates you."  
The door to the Great Hall opened and Rachel Flowers stormed in.  
"Here," Rachel said harshly as she shoved a folded up piece of parchment into Courtney's hand on her way past the Gryffindor table.   
"Good morning, Rachel. Sleep well?" Courtney said cheerfully.  
Rachel glared at her sister. "Why so nice all of the sudden? What do you want?"  
Courtney looked genuinely hurt. "N-nothing."   
"Morning, Rach," A Gryffindor boy said happily as he put an arm around her waist.  
"Keith!" She exclaimed happily. They sat down together at the other end of the Gryffindor table.  
Courtney watched her sister talk excitedly with Keith. "My sister has a boyfriend!" She finally cried out in shock after staring at them for a minute. "Why doesn't anyone tell me these things?"  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Rain fell in sheets as the Gryffindor and Slytherin first years ran across the school lawn to the greenhouses after they had finished breakfast. Stacy was happy to be outside despite the rain. She had always preferred to spend time outdoors. Besides, it would be nearly impossible for her to get lost.  
Justin was waiting for them when they reached the greenhouse their class was in. He looked exhausted.   
"Are you okay?" Stacy asked cautiously. She had never seen someone who looked so tired.   
He yawned loudly before replying, "I didn't sleep."  
"Why not? Scared your room mates will kill you in your sleep?" Ben blurted out and earned another kick in the shins from Courtney.   
Justin started to say something, but the rain began to fall harder and they could not hear him. They hurried inside before their new robes were ruined.  
"Welcome to Herbology," The round-faced teacher Penny had pointed out to them said once all of the students had gathered around him. "I am Professor Longbottom. Today-"  
A Slytherin boy's hand shot up in the air.   
"Erm, yes?" Professor Longbottom asked. His face looked surprised that someone had a question already.  
"Is it true that you're terrified of Professor Snape?" The boy asked with a wicked grin. The other Slytherins, except Justin, snickered.  
"Well, erm," Longbottom started. "Who told you this?"  
"Professor Snape did," one of the twins from the boat ride exclaimed. 'That one's Carrie' Stacy thought. 'Or is she Mary?' It was difficult to tell. They looked exactly the same.  
"Did he?" Professor Longbottom looked extremely uncomfortable. "Well, as I was trying to say, before erm-"  
"Ryan," The boy told him.  
"Ryan interrupted me," Their teacher continued. "Today we are going to learn about the basic kinds of herbs needed for potions. Please take out a roll of parchment and a quill. I need to give you notes before we can start growing the herbs."  
The class moaned, but did as Professor Longbottom instructed.   
The rest of the morning passed quickly and soon their first class was over. Stacy walked with Courtney, Peter, Ben, and Justin back up to the school. She placed her notes into her backpack. She had just written more in those two hours than she ever had in her life.   
"Ok, did any of you understand a word he just said?" Carrie asked as she caught up with the group.  
"Uh uh," Ben answered. "This is going to be a real fun class."  
Courtney looked shocked about something. "You didn't understand it? How are you going to make it through the rest of the year? This is our first day!"  
Ben stopped and glared at her, "We can't all be brains, can we?" He walked quickly away from the group.   
"I'm just going to go-" Peter started, before hurrying after Ben.  
"Someone has a temper," Courtney stated when the two boys were out of sight.   
Justin smiled slightly. "He isn't usually this bad. He's been kind of-"  
"Touchy?" Courtney supplied.  
Justin nodded. "I think it has something to do with his father."  
Stacy looked surprised. "But, his father seems so nice."  
"Parents can be evil," Carrie spoke up. "Mine are. It's always 'Mary this' and 'Mary that' and blah blah blah."  
  
They reached the top of the castle then and went their separate ways. Courtney and Stacy decided to go to the library until lunch instead of back to Gryffindor Tower. Courtney didn't want to risk seeing Ben.  
Courtney settled down at one of the library's tables and opened her copy of "One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi".  
"Don't tell me you're doing the reading already," Ben's voice snarled behind them.   
Daggers shot through Courtney's eyes. "Well, yeah. I am. Some people actually care about their grades."  
"Are you saying I'm stupid?" Ben shouted, earning a glare and a vehement Sssh from the new librarian Madame Vasta.   
Peter stared questioningly at Stacy as if to ask her what they should do. She just bit her lip and looked down at her feet. Stacy had never been one for confrontations.  
"Come on, Ben," Peter begged. "Let's go upstairs."  
"Are you saying I'm stupid?" Ben shouted again, causing several fifth years to turn around and stare at them.   
Madame Vasta hurried over to their table. "You are stupid if you think the library is a place for carrying on. All of you, please leave. You are disturbing the students who wish to get work done." She stood with her hands on her hips watching them until the group had moved on.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Looking back years later, Stacy would say her first year at Hogwarts was both the easiest and the hardest of her seven years there.   
The work load was not as heavy as other years would bring, but in almost all other ways her first year was the most difficult. Besides adjusting to her new home and classes, Potions became her most difficult one, her relationships with her new friends were not as stable that first year. Courtney automatically became her closest friend. That friendship did not change or waver seriously throughout the years. Likewise, her friendship with Peter was secure from the start. Ben was a different story though. He had "trust issues", as Courtney would always say. His friendship was one that had to be earned.   
  
The afternoon passed by quickly. Stacy and Courtney sat with Penny and her sister Joan at one end of the Gryffindor table at lunch while Ben and Peter sat at the other. Ben would periodically turn and glare at Courtney, who would glare back.   
After lunch, it was time for Potions. Stacy and Courtney arrived outside the room first and met up with Greg and three other Hufflepuffs, Steven Smith, Jana Black and Wendy Tyson.   
Professor Snape was everything Stacy had imagined and worse. He was strict with first years, especially Gryffindor first years. Their first day, he ordered the class to work in pairs to make a potion for hair growth.   
All of the potions failed except for Greg and Jana's. Professor Snape was so surprised by the accuracy of the potion he forgot to assign homework.  
"How did you manage that?" Stacy asked Jana and Greg as soon as they left the classroom.  
Greg smiled. "Jana did it. She's a potions whiz. I just um helped."  
Jana blushed furiously. "I've always been fascinated by potions."  
"Ours was terrible," Courtney pointed out. "I don't understand why. We followed the instructions."  
Ben looked like he wanted to laugh. Stacy had a feeling he may have had something to do with their potion's failure.   
"See you at dinner," Jana called as she walked up to the Hufflepuff tower with Greg, Steven, and Wendy.   
Stacy collapsed on her bed as soon as entered their dormitory. Her friends were sitting around the common room waiting until it was time for dinner, but Stacy wanted to have some time alone. Stacy rolled over and noticed a piece of parchment attached to a medium-sized box lying on the floor next to her bed. She opened the box and a silvery piece of fabric fell out. Stacy lifted it up and twisted it around through her fingers. She gasped. Her hand had disappeared. Stacy covered herself completely with the cloth and moved to the room's mirror. She did not have a reflection.  
Stacy dropped the cloth in surprise and reached for the piece of parchment that had been attached to the box. It read a single line-  
Just in case.  
  
To be continued...  
  
Author's Notes:  
First of all, thank you SO much to everyone who has reviewed my story so far. You're the best! =)  
I hope this part wasn't too confusing. The future parts should be better. I hope. I had to set some things up in this part that will serve a purpose later and did not get to have too much happen in it.  
I actually do have a plot now! I even know more or less what direction the story is going to go in and how I want it to end.   
Once again, I apologize for spelling/grammar mistakes...  
And, please review this, but don't flame. If you don't like my story, let me know- but please don't just flame it. Thanks.   
I'll try to get the next part out within the next week. I might even get it out this weekend if I have a chance.   
- Hope  
  
Ugh. My internet's been down for a couple days now, so I haven't been able to put this up yet. Sorry. I have no idea when the next chapter will come out. I haven't started it yet. And, this is going to be a busy, stressful week- at least for the next couple days- so I probably won't get to work on it. Oh well.  
By the way, I drew all of the characters using Paint and put them on my site. You can see them at www.geocities.com/hope_107_2002/hogwarts.jpg  
They aren't good. I can't draw hands, so all the characters have fists. It gives a basic idea of how I picture them though.  
- Hope  
  
  
  
  



	4. Learning Outside the Classroom

It was a warm mid-October afternoon, when Stacy Arrons learned to fly. Flying lessons were supposed to begin in September, but constant bad weather had caused Professor Dumbledore to push them back a month.   
"I can't wait any longer!" Stacy's friend Courtney Flowers moaned as she bounced up and down. "What is taking her so long?"  
Stacy almost laughed at the exaggerated look of dismay on Courtney's face. It was one of the few similarities between Courtney and Stacy's Muggle best friend Mandy Payer. Courtney's expression changed to excitement as she spotted Madam Hooch hurrying across the lawn to the large group of first years. All of the first years were having their first flying lesson at the same time because of scheduling difficulties or something of that sort. Stacy couldn't remember exactly what Joan Prickle had said when she announced their first session would take place that afternoon.  
Madam Hooch looked slightly uneasy at the idea of teaching so many first years at once- with good reason. "Everyone stand by a broom," She instructed and motioned to a large group of brooms spread out in a circle.  
Stacy had never seen so many brooms in one place before. There must have been nearly sixty of them- enough for all of the first years. Stacy picked a broom and stood with Courtney, Benjamin Wright and Peter Trey, her other Gryffindor friends. She waved to her other friends Greg Adams, who was standing with a group of Hufflepuffs, and Justin Taylor, who was techniquely standing with a group of his housemates, but looked like he wouldn't notice if they dropped off the face of the earth.   
Madam Hooch moved to the center of the crowd of first years then. " The art of flying can be a very difficult field to learn, so you must all be extremely careful to follow my instructions. For some of you, it will come naturally, but others will struggle." She paused and surveyed the group with a glare that reminded Stacy of her old gym teacher at La Anglia. "First, put out your right hand and say 'Up!'" She stated.   
At this, the Slytherins, except for Justin, did as she had said, but also took off into the sky.  
"Come back down here!" Madam Hooch yelled after them and started blowing her whistle hysterically. Suddenly, the Hufflepuffs, including Greg and his friends Steven Smith, Wendy Tyson, and Jana Black also lifted off the ground. They were quickly followed by the Ravenclaws, and finally by the Gryffindors and Justin. Stacy watched nervously as Courtney eagerly soared into the air on her broom. For someone so smart, Courtney could not care less about the rules. She did things her way and that was all there was to it. Schoolwork was a different story. She was obsessed with getting her work done correctly and on time. Ben was right behind Courtney, not wanting to be outdone by her. Their personalities had clashed since the first day of school. Ben was smart, but was not a scholar. It angered him whenever Courtney did schoolwork. Stacy was starting to wonder if he had done one assignment yet- and whether he would be able to pass the year.   
"Aren't you going up?" Peter asked Stacy. He was straddling his broom in preparation to take off.   
Stacy looked up uncertainly. She did want to go, but what if she fell? Or what if she got in trouble? Madame Hooch's face was starting to look slightly blue from puffing her whistle so many times. It was all in vain though. The sounds of fifty some chattering first years blocked out the whistle completely. The couldn't expel the entire class, could they?  
"Come on!" Peter exclaimed. He flew up about ten feet into the air where the majority of the class was circling. They seemed to be having fun. The Slytherins were trying to push people off their brooms. She would have to stay away from them. Everyone else was just practicing flying in circles.   
Stacy glanced around again. She was the only one left on the land. Finally, she took her broom and lifted up.   
Flying came naturally to Stacy. She shifted her broom and attempted to steer herself over to where Courtney was now flying with their room mates Jessica Mullan, Christine Gerties, Julie Schma, plus Jana, Wendy, and twins Carrie and Mary Sarers.  
"Excuse me," Stacy said as she pushed her way through the crowd to the other girls. She looked down and saw Hagrid had now joined Madam Hooch was also bellowing for the group to come down, but even Hagrid's enormous voice was only a faint whisper over the group.   
Suddenly, something bright green flashed in front of Stacy's eyes.   
  
"You will never get away with this!" Eliza Redas shrieked. Tears poured down her face rapidly.   
He smiled at her with that same twisted smile he always had. "You are the one who has gotten away with it. Always have always will."  
"What do you mean?" Eliza whispered. His eyes lit up dangerously. The way they had that night. Eliza shuddered violently at the thought of it. She could still hear her parents' cries for help ringing her head. If only she had done something for them.  
Michael glanced sympathetically at his sister. She always had been a little insane. He really couldn't blame her for what happened to their parents. "I am sorry, Eliza," He said kindly. "It is for the best though. It is really for you."  
Eliza stopped crying and glowered at her sibling. "For me?" She yelled. "It is never for me! It is all for you!"  
"You are a witch," Michael told her calmly. "We cannot have someone who practices witchcraft in our town."  
Before Eliza could respond, the town priest Father Nortrup entered the jail carrying a Bible. "It is time, my child," He told her. Eliza began to cry again.  
"Farewell, Eliza," Michael hugged his sister and started to leave so the priest could try to save Eliza's immortal soul.  
When he was almost out the door, Eliza pulled a flask out of her skirt and showed it to him. Michael gaped at the flask and gasped loudly. The priest looked very confused. Eliza smiled sweetly and took a long swig of the potion. "I will come again."  
  
"Stacy!" Courtney screamed hysterically. She swooped down and caught her friend.  
Stacy opened her eyes. She was dangling about five feet above the ground. Courtney's hands were clutching her arms tightly as they she slowly lowered them to the ground.  
"W-what h-happened?" Stacy asked. Her eyes darted around fretfully as Madam Hooch and Hagrid rushed over to them. Stacy saw her broom laying a few feet away from them.  
"Are yeh allrigh'?" Hagrid asked anxiously.   
"I think so," Stacy replied. Her head hurt, but she did not have any bruises or cuts. "Did I fall?"   
Madam Hooch looked worried all of the sudden. "You don't remember?"   
Stacy shook her head. She saw that the majority of the first years had finally decided to come back down and were now gathered around them. "There was a flash and I think I fell asleep. I wasn't tired though."  
"Your eyes were open," Courtney told her. "I saw them. You were flying over to us and you froze like something had hit you. Then, you just sort of fell."  
Ryan Arnold and several Slytherins snickered. Stacy felt her face flush.   
A look of anger crossed Madam Hooch's face. Turning to the other students she said, "I suppose I do not need to teach this class anymore since all of you seem to know everything there is to know about flying. I will inform Professor Dumbledore that I will be dropping this class for the rest of the year."  
This caused the rest of the group to look as embarrassed as Stacy felt. Students often dropped classes, but no one had ever heard of a teacher dropping a group of students. "And, for a punishment, there will be one hundred points taken from each house," She continued.   
A murmur spread through the group. A hundred points! None of the houses had reached that total yet. The other students were going to be very angry with them.  
Stacy felt Hagrid's hand clamp down on her shoulder. "Let's get yeh to the infirmary, Stacy," He told her. "Madam Pomfrey better look yeh over 'fore it's time fer supper."  
Stacy nodded and allowed Hagrid to lead her back to the castle. She could hear her classmates complaing loudly from behind her. Perhaps it was best she was not going to around them for awhile. Her head still ached and their moans would only make her feel worse.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Professor Harry Potter couldn't help but chuckle as he watched the first years' airborne antics through his office's window. His own first year didn't seem that long ago. Professor Snape had complained at breakfast that morning about the first years. He said they were more disobedient than any other class he had seen. In some ways, Harry agreed with Snape, as much as he hated to admit it. But, Harry himself had never been exactly obedient during his school days. Though, it was different for him. He had been working for a greater goal. Most of the time…  
Snape loved to remind Harry about his disobedience of the rules during his seven years as a student. Snape was constantly telling Professor Dumbledore that Harry was unsuitable for the job of a teacher. Dumbledore never listened though. Harry was thankful for that. He didn't want to give Snape the satisfaction of seeing him be fired.  
Someone tall caught Harry's eye. He moved closer to the window and watched as Hagrid led Stacy Arrons up to the castle. A lump grew in Harry's throat. He hoped Stacy wasn't in trouble. That would ruin everything.  
"Where is she?" A woman's voice behind him demanded.   
Harry turned around to see his friend Hermione Granger standing behind him. "Hello Hermione!" Harry said cheerfully, ignoring her question.  
"Harry!" Ron Weasley exclaimed as he came running into the office.  
"Ron!" Harry responded. It was nice to have his two best friends back at Hogwarts again.   
"I got your owl," Ron told him. "I hurried here as fast as I could. I really wish they would change it so I could apparate to Hogwarts."  
Hermione rolled her eyes. "How many times have I told you two-"  
"No one can Apparate to Hogwarts," Harry and Ron said together.   
"How is Gringotts?" Harry asked Ron. Ron had taken a job at the Wizarding bank after graduation while Hermione and Harry had trained to be Aurors.   
"It's fine. We almost had a robbery last week," Ron answered.   
"Really?" Harry asked. The last time he could remember there being a robbery at the bank was back when he was a first year.  
"Now that we are all caught up, can we please take care of the business at hand?" Hermione asked sternly.  
Ron grinned at her. "Glad to see you have changed so much, Hermione. Almost thought you might care more about your friends than magic."  
Hermione frowned. "It's not that I don't care about both of you, but we have more important matters to discuss now." She looked embarrassed. "Is it her, Harry?"  
Harry nodded. "According to the Swarte Charm it is."  
"I'm missing something here, aren't I?" Ron asked. He looked angry at the idea of being left out of something important. Ron had been hurt when Harry and Hermione had gone on to the Aurors school without him. He still thought they felt he wasn't up to their level of witchcraft. That wasn't the case, of course, but Ron couldn't get the idea out of his head.  
"About 320 years ago, there was a very powerful young witch named Eliza Redas in America," Hermione informed him. "People who were suspected of witchcraft at that time were killed. Eliza was burned at the stake because the villagers blamed her for the death of her parents. Town records report she shouted the words 'I will come again' until her death."  
Ron nodded. "And, what does this have to do with anything?"  
"I recently read a book about famous witches of the 1600s and discovered the case. Eliza's brother Michael wrote that before she was executed, she drank the Iast potion to actually allow herself to be born again in a certain number of years. According to my calculations, she should be about eleven years old now," Hermione continued.  
"So, we have an evil, old witch to find?" Ron looked confused.  
"She isn't necessarily evil," Harry spoke up. "There is no proof she actually committed the murders."  
"And, we have found her already," Hermione said. "She is a student here. Her name is Stacy Arrons. She is famous in the Muggle world. I sensed her energy when I saw a picture of her in a magazine at my parent's home. Harry used the Swarte charm to read her energy level. She is very powerful- in the highest level."  
"More powerful than You-Know-Who?" Ron asked, a frightened look crossing his face.   
"VOLDEMORT!" Harry cried. Ron and Hermione jumped in surprise. "Sorry," Harry said sheepishly. "Erm, he's dead. Saying his name will not bring him back."  
Hermione pushed a stray hair behind her ear. Her hair had actually calmed down as she had grown older. She could now pull it back without using magic. "She is in the same level as he is- I mean was. But, that does not mean she is bad. Professor Dumbledore is also in the group."  
"Does she know?" Ron asked.  
"We're not sure," Harry told him. "She seems normal. A little quiet, but nothing out of the usual."  
"Where is she?" Hermione asked. "We should find her."  
Harry looked around for a moment before answering, "It is time for dinner. We can talk to her after we eat."   
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
The Great Hall was unusally quiet as Stacy entered. Madam Pomfrey had wanted to make her stay overnight, but Stacy insisted she felt fine. Finally, with a little help from Professor Dumbledore who had come to check on her after Hagrid told him what had happened, she had been allowed to leave.   
"Stacy!" Courtney cried when she spotted her friend. Everyone in the Hall turned around to look at Stacy, who for what seemed like the thousandth time that year, turned bright red.   
"Are you feeling better?" Keith Stewart, a sixth year, Rachel Flowers' boyfriend, and one of the most popular boys in their house, asked Stacy as she passed him.   
Stacy felt her skin get hotter and managed to nod her head.   
"Word gets around this school quickly," Stacy stated as she sat down next to Courtney.  
"What do you mean?" Ben asked her.  
"Everyone knows what happened to me, don't they?" She turned faintly red again.  
"Not everyone," Peter smiled teasingly at her. "I'm sure there's at least one person who hasn't heard."  
"Oh, hush," Courtney said defensively. "It could've happened to anyone."  
"But, it didn't. It only happened to Stacy," Ben smirked.  
"Is everyone mad at us?" Stacy asked before Courtney and Ben could get into another argument.  
"Not really," Peter told her. "I think they were at first, but they're starting to get over it."  
"They're more annoyed than mad," Ben said.  
"How are you?" Courtney inquired, a look of concern crossing her face.  
"I'm fine," Stacy replied. Her friends looked skeptical. "Really, I am. I just had a panic attack or something, I guess."  
Courtney continued to look doubtful. "It seemed like more than that. Your whole face-" She paused. "I can't describe it exactly. You just looked so…" Her voice trailed off. "You're sure you're okay?"  
Stacy nodded again. "I'm fine."  
"Hey, what's that?" Ben asked pointing to a piece of parchment in the pocket of Stacy's robe.  
"I don't know," Stacy replied. She hadn't noticed the parchment until he pointed it out to her. She unfolded it and read-  
  
Stacy:  
Meet me by the statue of the one-eyed witch at midnight.  
  
Courtney snatched the note from Stacy and gasped. "Who wants to meet you?" She asked, causing Ben and Peter to lean across the table to see it.  
"Where's the one-eyed witch?" Stacy asked curiously.  
"It's a statue near a classroom on the third-floor corridor," Penny Prickle told her as she sat down. "Are you feeling better?"  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Midnight was not a fun time to be sneaking around Hogwarts. This was one of the first facts of life new Hogwarts students learned. Stacy pulled her invisibility cloak around her tighter. She was still did not know how the cloak had come to her, but whoever sent it to her obviously thought she would need it. Why else would the note have said 'Just in case'?  
Stacy had never used the cloak before and was hoping desperately that no one could see them. By them, she meant Peter and herself. She could not fit all three of her friends under the cloak, so Courtney had volunteered to stay behind with Ben.   
If Stacy had thought Hogwarts was creepy before her midnight expedition, she would have been too scared to go anywhere by the time the night was over. Everytime she heard the smallest sound, she started panicking that it was Filch or even worse -in here opinion- Peeves. Peter tried to calm her down. He kept saying no one could see them and not to worry.   
The castle was dark at night as most places are. They wandered around for about ten minutes when they heard Filch coming around the corner and Stacy had a fit of sneezes.   
"Who's there?" Filch called. He looked around suspiciously. "I know there's someone here!"  
"Ooh!" Peeves cooed as he glided up to Filch. "Is a little student wandering around all alone at night? Naughty! Naughty!"  
"Peeves, just the ghost I was hoping to see," Filch said in such an unusally happy voice Peeves looked taken aback. "Have you seen any students roving around tonight?"  
"Maybe I have, maybe I haven't," Peeves replied.   
"Either you have or you haven't," Filch said in an irritable tone.   
"I have!" Peeves exclaimed and started to float off.  
"Hold it, Peeves," Filch demanded.  
"Why should I?" Peeves replied stubbornly.  
"I'll tell the Bloody Baron about this if you don't." Peeves pouted. "Where are they?"  
"I saw a group of third years going to the kitchen. Wouldn't let me come with them. And, I saw a sixth year lurking around the prefects' bathroom. And-"  
Stacy sneezed again.   
Filch whipped around and glowered. "So, there's a student with an invisibility cloak. Show yourself."  
Stacy looked timidly at Peter as if to say 'what now?'. Peter grabbed Stacy and threw her into the empty classroom behind them with the invisibility cloak still on her. Then, once he was sure she was inside, he grabbed the cloak and walked over to Filch.   
"Sorry, sir," Peter confessed.   
Filch looked at him suspiciously. "Are you alone? I was sure that was a girl's sneeze."  
Peter shook his head. "It was me."  
Filch grabbed his arm and led him down the hallway. "Well, I think we should go to my office and have a chat about this. And, this cloak may make a nice addition to my collection of students' belongings."  
Peter looked scared, but simply said, "Yes, sir."   
Stacy poked her head out of the classroom and was relieved to see Peeves had also disappeared somewhere. She would have to remember to get Peter a really good Christmas present.  
Stacy crept along the hallways cautiously, suddenly very aware of her every movement. She looked over her shoulder constantly to make sure Peeves hadn't popped up behind her. After another five minutes of sneaking around, she reached the statue. No one was there. Stacy tapped her foot anxiously and glanced around. It had to be half past midnight by now. Maybe they had given up on her and gone to bed. Stacy waited about thirty more seconds before her nerves started playing tricks on her. She imagined she was hearing Filch walking around the corner or Peeves floating- which didn't make any sense since floating didn't make a sound.  
"Stacy! What are you doing up?" A voice said next to her.  
Stacy spun around to see Professor Potter, another man, and a woman standing next to her. "I was just-"  
"Sneaking around late at night?" The other man asked with a smile.  
"Why don't we walk you back to Gryffindor Tower?" Professor Potter asked. "I expect Filch will be around here shortly."  
"Am I in trouble?" Stacy asked meekly.   
Professor Potter exchanged an amused look with his friends. "I really should give you a detention and take points from Gryffindor," Potter said thoughtfully. Stacy looked panicked. Harry smiled reassuringly at her. "But, I'm not going to- this time."  
"Thank you," Stacy said as they arrived at the portrait of the Fat Lady, who yawned and asked for the password. Stacy said Tinker Bell and climbed into the tower after thanking her teacher one more time.  
"Well?" Ron asked Hermione once Stacy had disappeared.  
"It's not her," Hermione said in a disappointed tone.  
"But the charm-" Harry started.  
Hermione shook her head. "The charm is not always an accurate detector. I'm sure she isn't Eliza."  
"How can you tell?" Ron asked.  
"Several reasons. If she really was Eliza, she would have more talent than the girl I just saw. She would have been able to turn herself invisible without a cloak. I could sense her energy though. It is very strong, but not the same level as Eliza."  
"But, we don't know if Eliza would remember any magic when she was born again," Harry pointed out. "She could be her, but doesn't remember any spells."  
Hermione shook her head again. "It would be instinct for her. I expect there is more to Stacy Arrons than meets the eye. An amateur witch should not have the level of magical energy she has. She was most likely born into a strong wizarding family."  
"What do we do now?" Ron asked. "I have to be back at Gringotts in the morning."  
"I'm here until the end of the year," Harry replied. "You can both go back home. I'll send you an Owl if anything odd happens."  
"Actually," Hermione said mischievously. "I'm staying too. Apparantly, Madam Hooch refuses to teach the first years' flying lessons anymore this year. Professor Dumbledore asked me if I would mind taking over the class."  
Ron burst out laughing. "You're teaching flying? This I have to see."  
  
To be continued...  
  
Authors' Notes:  
Whew. I'm done! That was a hard part for me to write for some reason.   
I hope you liked it. Please review, even if you hated it. I would like to know what people think. Just, please, no flames. Constructive criticism is fine, but no flames. Thanks to all who review!  
I actually do have an idea of the direction for this story, and no, it's not the obvious one. Or at least the one I think would be obvious.   
Sorry for spelling/grammar mistakes. I always make a couple... I try to check as I go along, but I generally make a couple that I miss.   
I have no idea when the next part's coming out. The more reviews I get, the faster it'll come because I'll be more encouraged to write. So, if you like this please let me know! If you hate it, let me know why.   
Thanks for reading this and please review. =)  
- Hope  
  
Disclaimer: I own Stacy and her friends and family, but the Harry Potter characters belong to J.K. Rowling and Scholastic. They aren't mine!  



	5. Friends and Sisters

Tick tock. Tick tock. The clock in Gryffindor Tower chimed as its hands moved at the speed of a slug. 'Is it broken?' Courtney Flowers couldn't help wondering as she sat on a chair in the now empty Gryffindor Common Room.  
"What's taking them so long?" Her friend/enemy Benjamin Wright moaned. He yawned and slunk down farther in his chair.  
Courtney glared at him. "You can go to bed if you'd like."   
It was just after half past twelve, but it seemed like their friends Stacy Arrons and Peter Trey had been gone much longer than that.  
"Do you suppose Filch caught them?" Ben asked and yawned again. If Courtney didn't know better, she would have said he had a concerned expression on his face.  
"I hope not," Courtney replied. She twirled one of her many curls around her finger nervously. "Maybe we should go out and find them."  
Ben looked at her strangely. "Are you insane? We'd be caught in two seconds. At least they have the invisibility cloak. How did Stacy get that anyway?"  
Courtney shrugged. "Someone left it for her as a present I guess. I wish someone would leave me things like that."  
Suddenly, the door swung open and Stacy pulled herself into the room.  
"Stacy!" Courtney cried and jumped to her feet.  
"Where's Peter?" Ben asked, leaning through the hole to look for his friend.  
Stacy bit her bottom lip nervously. "He isn't back yet?"   
Ben looked angry. "You left him out there!" He bellowed angrily.  
"Sssh!" Courtney shrieked and hit him in the chest. "Do you want to wake everyone else up? They're already mad enough at us."  
Stacy's eyes darted around the room before telling them, "Filch caught him. Well, he caught both of us, but Peter told me to hide."  
Ben's face turned red with anger. "You got caught! He might get a detention! He might get kicked out of school! He might-"  
"Hey guys," Peter said quietly as he climbed in.  
"Where were you?" Ben hissed.  
"Are you in trouble?" Stacy asked timidly.  
Peter nodded. "I have detention everyday for a week. And, Filch is keeping your cloak. Sorry."  
"It's ok. I think that cloak's more trouble than it's worth," Stacy replied. "Besides, I owe you. I should be the one with detention."  
Peter blushed faintly. "Did you find out who wrote you the note?"  
Stacy shook her head. "I think they gave up waiting for me and went to bed."   
"Ahem."  
They turned around to see Joan Prickle standing on the steps from the girls' bedrooms. "Some of us are trying to get some sleep tonight," She said kindly.   
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
For the first time since leaving California, Stacy felt the stares and whispers of her peers as she walked through the Great Hall before breakfast. The only difference this time was that no one was following her around begging for her autograph. Word had spread quickly about her near accident the day before and it felt like the entire school could discuss nothing else.  
Stacy had grown accustomed to being the center of attention. Growing up in a family like hers would teach anyone how to smile and be courteous to everyone, even that gossip columnist who kept pressing her for dirt on her mother. Despite her training with these situations, it was nearly impossible for Stacy to keep her cool when people laughed everytime she came anywhere near them.   
'I can't be the only student ever to fall off her broom', Stacy thought as she passed a group of Slytherins doing their idea of an impression of her. 'Besides, it really wasn't that amusing, was it?'   
It was times like this when Stacy would learn to be especially thankful for her friends. If they too really wanted to laugh at her, they were doing a good job hiding it. Courtney stood by Stacy's side the whole day and glared daggers at anyone who made fun of her. Ben threatened to beat up all of Stacy's mockers. Ben was unusually strong for an eleven year old, so people listened. Peter did not have the strength of Ben, but knew a spell which momentarily changed the victim's tongue into a furry mass. Even Joan and Penny Prickle helped by reminding the older students of their own first attempts at flying. Their efforts, along with the attention span of your average teenager, caused the school to forget about Stacy's mistake by dinnertime.  
One thing still bothered Stacy. She could not understand what had caused her to fall. She had been doing fine until she saw a brilliant flash of green. She had asked Courtney about it, but Courtney said she had not seen it. Then, there was the "dream" she had seen. It wasn't the first of its kind. Stacy had had one similar to it at least once a week since arriving at Hogwarts. She always saw the same people. A girl a couple years older than herself named Eliza and her older brother Michael. The story felt familiar to Stacy. She could easily sense Eliza's fear and Michael's anger. She just couldn't remember where she had heard it before.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
October flew by quickly and before anyone knew it, Halloween had arrived. Stacy had always loved October 31st, especially the trick-or-treating part of it. Every year, she had worn the best costume of anyone in her class. Her mother's best friend was a make up artist who made up Stacy and her Muggle best friend Mandy Payer to look like anything from zombies to princesses.   
Halloween at Hogwarts was different from anything Stacy had ever experienced. No one dressed up in costumes and got candy, but they had a huge feast for dinner.   
The Great Hall was decorated with real spider webs, gravestones, bats, and lit dimly. All of the school ghosts joined the festivities which added greatly to the scariness factor. After everyone finished eating, Professor Dumbledore announced the teachers had made plans for something new that year. They had set up a haunted house in the dungeons for any students who wished to visit it.   
The majority of the students wanted to go, so the line was very long. After waiting for nearly a half hour, Stacy, Courtney, Ben, and Peter entered the dungeons with another group of students, including their friends Justin Taylor and Greg Adams, and their new flying teacher, Professor Granger, as their tour guide.   
The dungeons were always dark and dreary, but with the teacher's efforts they looked scarier than usual. Professor Granger led them through a passageway covered with cobwebs, fake blood, and something brown and slimey- Stacy wasn't sure she wanted to know what it was. They walked through a room set up to look like a graveyard, complete with vampires rising from the "graves" and witches standing over them collecting supplies for potions. Many of the students laughed at the witches' pointy black hats and shoes.  
"Muggles don't know what they're talking about," Penny whispered to Stacy.   
The next room was actually a haunted house with monsters and ghouls and giant spiders. Professor Granger warned them not to go near a giant scorpion type creature with a large stinger. Hermione shook her head and muttered, "Hagrid and his Blast-Ended Skrewts." After everyone in their group had received a small bag of tricks from one of the ghosts, they moved on to the next room.   
The last room of the haunted house was by far the strangest. The instant they entered it, the entire group was literally sucked up to the ceiling by something that looked like a giant fan. Stacy and Courtney linked arms in an attempt to keep from falling as they tried to walk across the ceiling to the exit. Suddenly, a flash of green light burst in front of Stacy's eyes. She staggered backwards and was caught by Greg and Jana.   
"Did you see that?" Stacy asked as her friends helped her stand up.   
Greg shook his head. "Are you okay, Stacy?"  
"What did you see?" Courtney asked anxiously.  
Stacy shook her head to try and clear it. "It was nothing. I'm probably just dizzy."  
They walked the rest of the way with Courtney and Greg on either side of her and Jana in the back.   
Outside, the rest of the school was sitting around the lake watching as the teachers set up a stage for a play of some sort. Stacy and Courtney sat down with the rest of the first years. They spent the rest of the evening watching the teachers perform skits about true scary stories. The stories ranged from how the Bloody Baron became a ghost to one led by Hagrid about the sort of creatures in the Forbidden Forest to the true story of the Chamber of Secrets. After the last skit was done, the students sleepily walked back to the school. That was the first night since her arrival at Hogwarts Stacy slept without one nightmare.   
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
School had always been easy for Stacy. Back at La Anglia, she had earned straight As every year. This year was different. While Stacy was doing well enough in her classes, she was not anywhere near the top. Potions was by far her worst class. She was almost doing as badly as Ben in it. Defense Against the Dark Arts was the only class she had top marks in. The rest of her grades were a little above average. Stacy would usually be disappointed with herself, but she was just happy to be passing.   
Courtney, of course, was the best Gryffindor student. Mary Sarers was the only first year with better marks than her. Peter, like Stacy, had just above average grades. Ben's marks were growing worse and worse. Courtney offered to help him, but he refused, saying he "would figure it out somehow".  
  
As with many students in all schools, Stacy and her friends' lives did not simply revolve around schoolwork and classes. They spent much of their free time in the Gryffindor Common Room talking and playing chess. Ben was the champion chess player. He could beat anyone, including Keith Stewart. No one could understand how he could be so good at the game, but not do well in school. He was obviously very smart.  
Quidditch was extremely popular among most of the students. Stacy could not understand why. Courtney tried to explain it to her, but Stacy still felt basketball was by far a better game.  
It was a windy early November morning when the entire school gathered around for the first Quidditch game of the year- Gryffindor vs. Slytherin.   
The Gryffindor table was particularly noisy that Saturday morning. Everyone, including Stacy, was excited. Winning the game would make up for the points lost by the first years and then some.   
The stands were nearly full by the time Stacy and Courtney arrived. Courtney had forgotten her cloak, so the girls were among the last to get there. To Courtney's dismay, the only seats left were next to her sister Rachel and her friends.   
Rachel was considerably more cheerful than the last time Stacy had seen her. She was even nice to Courtney. The sisters were very similar in appearance and personalities, which caused them to clash over everything else.   
"I'm so excited!" Rachel squealed to her friends. "I hope Gryffindor wins."  
Courtney's eyes bulged. "What?" She asked in shock.  
Rachel giggled which caused Courtney's shock to change to disgust. "Please tell me you did not just giggle," She remarked.  
Rachel stopped laughing at that. "Keith's playing," She said very matter-of-factly.  
Stacy suddenly understood why she was so happy, but Courtney continued to look confused.   
"What does that have to do with anything?" Courtney asked her sister, who simply giggled again. Courtney looked like she was either going to be sick or giggle herself.  
Sitting with Rachel did have its benefits. Try as she had, Courtney had not been able to explain the game of Quidditch very well. Rachel, who was the Ravenclaw Seeker, did a much better job of it. Within ten minutes of the game, Stacy could appreciate why everyone else was so crazy about it.  
One of the downsides of being a first year was the fact that you were generally not allowed on the House Quidditch team. In fact, the only person Stacy knew who was playing was Keith, the Gryffindor Seeker.  
The game was a relatively dull one. The Slytherin team was not on the same level as the Gryffindor team and it was an easy, fast victory. Keith caught the Snitch only twenty minutes into the game. The end score was 10 to 200.   
Rachel ran on to the field when it was over and kissed Keith. Courtney looked appalled.   
"Does she have to do that in front of everyone?" She hissed to Stacy before they caught up with Peter, Ben, and Justin, who was once again avoiding his housemates. They were still discussing Quidditch.  
"I'm going to try out for the team next year," Ben informed the others.  
Courtney smiled slyly. "If you are here next year, you mean."  
Ben turned red with anger. "I'll be here. Will you?"  
"Ooh. Good one," Courtney joked, trying to lighten the mood.  
"So, what did you think of the game, Stacy?" Peter asked. "That was the first Quidditch match you've seen, right?"  
Stacy nodded. She was glad he had spoken up before their friends could get into yet another argument. "It was okay. I mean, it was more interesting than I would've thought. I like basketball better though. I played for my school team last year."  
"What's basketball?" Justin inquired.  
Stacy almost laughed, but then remembered they knew about as much about the Muggle world as she knew about theirs before coming to Hogwarts. "It's kind of like Quidditch. Except without brooms or as many hoops or a Snitch or Beaters or-"  
Justin wrinkled his nose. "Sounds boring."  
"Oh, it isn't. I love it," Stacy assured him.  
"I think I saw it once," Courtney spoke up. "My dad was watching it on the telly-vason."  
"Television?" Stacy asked in an amused voice.   
"Yeah!" Courtney answered. "Just what I said. My mum wouldn't let me watch all of it. She thinks Muggle things are for Muggle eyes only and our things are for our eyes only."  
Ben nodded. "That's what my father says." His face flinched slightly at the mention of his father. Stacy couldn't help wonder if Peter had been right about Mr. Wright.  
"Hey, Stacy!" Penny yelled as soon as the group reached the Gryffindor Common Room. "You have a letter."  
Stacy followed her finger to see her owl Ana sitting on the window clutching an envelope in her beak. Stacy eagerly hurried over to Ana. It was the first letter she had received since arriving at Hogwarts. She had sent one to her grandmother her first day to let her know she had arrived safely, but had not heard back from her. She had been starting to get worried. Courtney's parents sent a letter to her and Rachel nearly everyday. Peter got one at least once a week. Ben had only received two, and one of them had been a Howler for receiving a failing mark in Potions, but that was more than Stacy had been sent.  
Stacy collapsed on a couch and happily tore open her letter. She could immediantly tell why it had taken her grandmother so long to write back. She had enclosed two letters from herself, one from each of Stacy's parents, and one from Mandy, who had been given Roxanna's address to use for notes to Stacy.  
The rest of the afternoon flew by as Stacy read her letters and responded to each of them. She told her father and grandmother all about the school and her classes. She knew her father would be especially interested to hear about them. He loved his years at Hogwarts and would be glad to hear that Stacy also liked it. He was one of the few wizards who had taken a job in the Muggle world after leaving the school. Though, he continued to use spells in the movies he directed. No one could understand how he kept the Muggles from noticing something was not quite normal about his special effects. In the letter to her mother, Stacy made sure to gush about her friends and the wonderful social opportunities the school had opened up for her. Her mother would not be interested in or understand anything about the magic her daughter was learning. In Mandy's letter, Stacy eliminated everything about magic and concentrated on her thoughts about the school, classes, and friends. No one had told her not to tell about where she went to school, but Stacy did not think it would be the right thing to do.  
Finally, right before dinner, Stacy sent Ana back on her way to deliver the letters to her grandmother. As she was sitting down to eat, Stacy realized that she had not included anything about her dreams in any of the letters. Perhaps she should write another letter to her grandmother about them. Then again, maybe it was best just to leave things the way they were...  
  
To Be Continued...  
  
Author's Notes:  
I finished a part within three days after the last one. Wow...   
Thanks again for reading this. Now, PLEASE review. According to my stats, over 200 people have read this and only 11 have reviewed. I would REALLY appreciate if you'd let me know what you thought. No flames please, but just let me know. If you love it, hate it, whatever- let me know! Constructive critcism is also good.  
I want to know whether I should bother posting this anymore. If no one's really reading it, I'll stop. Let me know! Review!  
Ok, I'm done complaining. Thanks soooo much to everyone who has reviewed so far!  
Once again, sorry for spelling/grammar mistakes. I feel like I should apologize for this at the end of each part because I know I made some....  
Go review! Thanks! =)  
- Hope 


	6. Christmas Vacation

Hollywood and the rest of America had an obsession with the Arrons family. At least, it felt that way to eleven year old Stacy Arrons. Her family was perfect. Ideal. Faultless even. Except for the occasional horrible tabloid article, America loved Stacy's family.  
So, why didn't she feel the same way? It wasn't that Stacy hated her parents. She loved them both, but sometimes it was hard for her to understand them. Today was one of those days. She glanced sadly at the letter her owl Ana had delivered for her the day before:  
  
Dear Stacy,   
We're glad to hear you are enjoying school. It makes this easier for us to tell you. Your father is filming a movie in Oklahoma. He'll be there through the holidays. I am about to fly to Japan to finish up my latest project. Unfortunately, this leaves you in an awkward position. You are always welcome at home. Honey, please know you are. But, I thought you would rather spend the holidays at school with your friends than at home without us, so I gave our employees the week off. Normally, Grandma would be delighted for you to stay with her, but she has not been feeling well lately and I am afraid it would be too much to ask her for a favor. I hope you do not mind.   
Merry Christmas!  
Love, Mom and Dad  
  
Stacy really did like school- most of the time. In fact, the year was going by faster than any of her other years of school. But, she was starting to feel homesick. She had never been away from her family, friends, home, and country for so long. She had been looking forward to going back to California for two weeks. She was even beginning to miss the cameras that inevitably followed her mother and sometimes herself everywhere.  
Plus, two of her closest friends, Courtney Flowers and Peter Trey were going home. Nearly the entire school was. According to Professor McGonagall, it was only going to be her friend Benjamin Wright, Keith Stewart and herself left in the Gryffindor Tower.   
It was a blustery, snowy day when Stacy received the letter from her parents. The castle and its lawns were covered in a thick blanket of snow. Even the lake had frozen over. Madam Hooch and Professor Longbottom were supervising a group of students, including Ben and Peter, who wanted to try ice skating. Inside, it was warm, full of Christmas decorations and trees, and spirits were high. Classes had wrapped up for the year and the students were enjoying their last day at school before the Hogwarts Express would take them home.   
The Gryffindor Common Room was nearly empty. Most of her fellow Gryffindors were out skating or in the Great Hall exchanging gifts. Stacy folded her letter and put it back in her robe's pocket. She couldn't let herself be bored now. She was going to have two weeks of nothing but boredom.   
Stacy climbed out of the tower and started off in the direction of the library. Courtney was most likely still in there trying to finish her homework before the break started. She was afraid she would need one of the library's books for her assignments and would not have access to it. Stacy slowly opened the door to the library and scanned the room. Sure enough, Courtney was sitting at a table with Mary and Carrie Sarers. Mary was also absorbed by a text, but Carrie was chattering away without noticing they were not listening or seeing Madam Vasta's sharp glares in her direction.   
"Stacy!" Jane Martin squealed excitedly.   
Stacy couldn't help moaning inside as she made her way to Jane's table. Jane was also in Gryffindor, but she was a second year and Muggle born. She was one of the few people who knew about Stacy's Muggle existence.  
"Um, hi Jane!" Stacy whispered as she sat down.   
"Are you going to make any movies over the holidays?" Jane paused before answering her own question. "Oh, of course you aren't. You wouldn't have enough time, would you? I hope you make one soon though. You were truly marvelous in "The War". You were! And, I'm not the only one who thought so. That's why you won the Oscar. I was ever so surprised when you won. You were so young! But, you deserved it. Everyone said so. And-"  
Stacy stood up abruptly, causing Jane's endless prattling to come to an end. "Um," She said awkwardly. "I-I'll see you later, Jane. I have something I have to take care of."  
Jane nodded. "Allright, then." She turned back to her book without another word.   
Stacy shot one more look at Courtney before leaving the library. Her friend hadn't even looked up long enough to see her.   
It wasn't that Stacy hated Jane. She didn't even dislike her. Jane was nice and very energetic, but she also had a habit of embarrassing Stacy everytime she saw her. She was just a little over-enthusiastic about Stacy's acting career.   
Ever since she started at Hogwarts, Stacy had experienced something she had never had before- a feeling of privacy. It was not like she had always been in the national spotlight back in California. Her mother would have wanted it that way, but her father had been careful to shield her from the harsh side of fame. Even the press had respected her right to privacy most of the time. But, growing up she had been hounded by fans nearly everywhere she went. Until "The War", the fans had mainly been interested in learning more about her mother or did not recognize her at all. After her "breakthrough" film, which was actually her eighth one, people suddenly became fascinated by her. Though Stacy had not made any movies since then, not including a TV movie and a cameo in one of her father's films, people still loved her.   
Hogwarts meant being around people her age who for the most part did not watch movies or know who she was. Of course, many students came from Muggle families. Most of them either didn't recognize Stacy or didn't care who she was. Jane was the only exception. Until October, Stacy had kept a fairly anonymous existence at school. She mainly stayed around her friends and did not cause a scene or demand attention. But after her accident on her first day of flying lessons, people, including Jane, began to notice her. Everytime she saw her, Jane managed to bring up Hollywood. So far, Stacy had been lucky and it was only when she was alone. She didn't want to tell her friends about her career. She was was afraid they would treat her differently if they knew. She didn't plan on keeping it from them forever. Just for awhile. Stacy wasn't sure, but she thought Ben might already know something was different about her because their fathers were friends. And, if Courtney's father really was a huge movie fan, he would know who she was if Courtney mentioned her. But, until then, Stacy was not going to say anything about it.  
  
Stacy had just left the library when she heard someone shouting her name. She turned around to see her friends Greg Adams and Jana Black hurrying toward her. They were her friends, even though they were Hufflepuffs. Greg was possibly the nicest and most even-tempered person Stacy had ever met. He was everything the Hufflepuff house stood for. Jana was very sweet and the only first year non-Slytherin doing well in Potions. She was also one of the few people shorter than Stacy, which had made them friends instantly.  
"We're going to go visit Hagrid," Greg told her. "Do you want to come with us?"  
"Sure," Stacy said happily. She was desperate to go outside for a little while, but she didn't feel like making a fool of herself on the lake. "I'll go get my cloak and meet you by the door."  
Five minutes later, they were standing outside Hagrid's hut. Hagrid seemed very happy to see them. Apparently, Greg and Jana visted him often.   
"Come on in, you three," He exclaimed and held the door open. "I just made some rock cakes."   
Stacy sat down on the floor between Greg and Jana. Hagrid offered them each a rock cake, which Greg and Jana politely declined. Stacy quickly wished she had too once she bit into hers.   
"What brings yeh down here?" Hagrid asked once he settled down.  
"We wanted to see you before we leave tonight," Greg answered.   
"And, tell you Merry Christmas," Jana finished. She glanced sympathetically at Stacy, who was rubbing her jaw in pain.   
Hagrid looked sad for a moment. "Yeh're the only ones to come see me today. 'Sides Harry- that woul' be Professor Potter to you- and his friends. Those four had some interestin' times when they went here."  
"Really?" Stacy said interestingly. "What type of things did they do?"  
Hagrid chuckled. "Well, as yeh all know many of Harry's adventures had to do with You-Know-Who." He paused before continuing in a shaking tone. "I mean V-Voldemort. Harry's always tellin' me to say his name. That he isn't gonna come back from the dead and kill me." Hagrid laughed again. "He did most of it with his friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger- that's Professor Granger to yeh."  
"Who's the fourth person?" Greg asked curiously.  
"Fourth?" Hagrid looked confused.   
"You said four people came to see you," Jana reminded him.  
"I did, didn' I?" Hagrid mused. "Professor Longbottom came with 'em. He was 'nother friend of Harry's. Those three wer' always into somethin'."  
The rest of the afternoon went by quickly as Hagrid described some of the things Harry and other students had done over the years. Finally, just before dinnertime they said goodbye to Hagrid and headed back up to the castle.   
  
The Great Hall was even nosier than usual as they ate what was going to be the last dinner of the year for many students. Stacy tried her hardest to be cheerful during the meal, but all she could think about was the fact that she would wake up alone in her dorm the next day.   
"I wish I could stay too," Courtney said cheerfully. "Two weeks at home with Rachel. Ick." She stuck her tongue out to emphasize her point.  
Stacy smiled, but knew it was a slight exaggeration. Despite her constant complaints about her sister, Courtney really did love Rachel. They had even started to almost get along lately.   
Down the table, Stacy could hear her other room mates Jessica Mullan, Julie Schma, and Christine Gerties discussing their plans. Stacy did not know them very well, but she was starting to wish at least one of them would stay.   
"I can't wait to get home," Peter said. "Christmas is always the best at my house!"   
Ben took a bite of what seemed like his tenth piece of chicken. "I'm glad I'm staying. My parents are going to be in France. It's better off this way."   
"How much are you going to eat?" Courtney asked him in disgust.  
Ben shrugged good-naturedly. "I'm a growing boy."  
Stacy and Peter exchanged a look of astonishment. Could it be? Ben was actually going to let an insult go.   
Courtney looked just as surprised as everyone else and didn't say anything else for the remaining five minutes of dinner- a first for her.  
Once everyone was finished eating, Professor Dumbledore said a few words and dismissed them. Stacy followed her friends to the main door to say goodbye before they got into the carriages which would take them back to the Hogwarts Express.   
"Bye Stacy! Bye Ben!" Jana called as she hurried out carrying a duffle bag.  
"Merry Christmas!" Greg called as he followed Jana out the door.  
"Have a good Christmas, Stacy!" Penny Prickle shouted as she was dragged out of the school by her sister Joan.   
Finally, Courtney and Peter were the only students left waiting for a carriage.  
"We better go," Peter said. The last few carriages were preparing to leave.   
Courtney hugged Stacy goodbye and promised to send her several letters. She almost hugged Ben too, but opted to shake his hand instead.   
Stacy and Ben said goodbye to their friends and watched as they left in their carriage.   
Stacy couldn't help feeling sad as they left. She wished she could be going too, instead of being stuck with only Ben and Keith for two weeks. At least some of her friends from other houses were staying. She knew Greg's friends Wendy Tyson and Steven Smith were still there. So was Justin Taylor and his cousin Brad. They were both Slytherins, but Stacy liked them. Well, she liked Justin and Brad wasn't as bad as Courtney always said Slytherins were. To Stacy's relief, Ryan Arnold, who Stacy felt was the most obnoxious boy she had ever met, had gone home for the holidays.  
  
Keith was sitting in a chair by the fireplace reading when Stacy and Ben entered the Gryffindor Common Room.  
"Hello!" He called cheerfully. "So, you two are stuck here too?"  
They both nodded and sat down near him.   
"Why are you here?" Ben asked him.  
Keith smiled. "My parents died when I was a baby. I don't have anywhere to go."  
"Oh." Ben said in a surprised tone. He shot a look at Stacy asking her what to do now.  
"Kidding!" Keith laughed. "They're away visiting my aunt. I always stay here anyway. It isn't too fun at my house around the holidays."  
Ben grimaced. "I know what that's like. My family's very colorful at Christmas."  
"That's a bad thing?" Stacy asked.   
"It is when you're my family," Ben replied.  
Keith turned to Stacy. "You're friends with Rachel's sister, right?" He got such a lovestruck look in his eyes at the mention of Rachel, Stacy was suddenly glad Courtney wasn't there.  
"Yeah. Courtney's the best," Stacy answered.  
"That depends on your opinion," Ben growled. His face turned bright red though. Stacy couldn't stop a giggle from escaping. Did Ben have a crush on Courtney?  
"Rachel doesn't seem to think too highly of her," Keith remarked with a scowl.   
"They're sisters," Stacy replied. "They fight a lot, but it doesn't mean anything."  
A strange look crossed Keith's face. Then, he faked a yawn and stood up. "I'm going to go to bed. I'll see you in the morning."   
"What was that about?" Ben asked once Keith had disappeared into his bedroom.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Stacy!" Ben cried. "Stacy! Wake up! It's Christmas!"  
Stacy opened her eyes to see an unusually cheerful Ben jumping up and down on the bed next to hers. Courtney was going to be in a sour mood when returned and she saw the state of her covers.   
"What time is it?" She asked as she stood up and pulled her robe on.  
Ben shrugged and flopped down on Courtney's bed. "Wow! You got a lot of presents."   
Stacy looked in shock at the place he was pointing to. It looked like someone had turned her room into a candy store. There were bags of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, Chocolate Frogs, Droobles Best Blowing Gum, and Toothflossing Stringmints in a giant pile next to her bed. A stack of wrapped boxes were next to them.   
"Go on!" Ben urged her. "Open them!"  
Stacy couldn't help grinning as she read a card from Penny that was attached to a bag of Bertie Bott's. Christmas really was her favorite holiday. It was even better than her birthday because her mother couldn't drag her to any shows or banquets.   
Soon, the room was filled with wrapping paper and empty candy wrappers as Stacy tore open her presents and Ben brought his in. Then, Stacy gave him her present. She had painted a portrait of Courtney, Peter, Ben, and herself. Then, using magic, and the assistance of Professor Granger, she had made four copies of the picture. Peter and Courtney had received theirs before they left school.  
Besides candies from Penny, Joan, Greg, Jana, Steven, Wendy, Justin, Jane, and even a bag from Rachel Flowers, Stacy got a lot of regular presents as well. Courtney had sent her a long letter complaining about Rachel and a book called 'Hogwarts, A History'. There was also a package with a scarf and gloves from Peter. Ben gave her a poster of the Chudley Cannons, one of his favorite Quidditch teams.   
Her mother sent her a copy of her latest memoirs and a makeup kit. Ben laughed hysterically when he saw it, causing Stacy to turn red without the help of Rockin' Raspberry blush. Her father sent her a new journal, three quills, and bottle of ink.   
"He must be psychic," Stacy remarked. "I just filled my old diary."  
She opened another box to find a lavender scented candle from her friend Mandy Payer, along with a letter. Stacy put it aside to read later.  
The second to last package was from her grandmother. In it, Stacy found a homemade tin of cookies and a dozen new hair ribbons. Roxanna had also sent her a very thick book titled, 'Famous Witches and Wizards'. She was disappointed to see her grandmother had not written a letter telling her about whatever was causing her to feel sick.   
Stacy laughed as Ben took the ribbons and tried to figure out what to do with them. He tied a yellow one around his neck and asked if it looked right. Finally, he got bored of them and gave them back.  
The last package held something very surprising. There was not a note or card attached to it. It was very light and the contents would not impress the average Muggle at first glance. But, Stacy couldn't help gasping loudly when she saw what was inside.   
Her invisibility cloak was back.  
  
The Great Hall was only about a quarter full when Ben and Stacy entered for the Christmas feast at noon. Since there were not many students, they were not sitting in their House seats, but were all gathered around the Ravenclaw table. The room looked even more magical than usual. Several hundred candles were floating around the two tables with students and teachers. There were several medium sized Christmas trees spread out around the room. Even the teachers looked better than usual in their dress robes.   
Keith was already there when they walked over to the table. They had not seen him around a lot since everyone else left three days earlier. Stacy had spotted him the library once and Wendy said she noticed he spent a lot of time on the Quidditch field practicing. Wendy, Steven, and Justin were gathered at one end of the table, so Ben and Stacy decided to sit there.  
Once they had settled down, Professor Dumbledore filled everyone's plates. The food was even better than the first feast of the year. Stacy piled a little bit of everything on her plate. Her mother would have had a heart attack if she saw how much her daughter ate that day.  
"This isn't as bad as I thought it would be," Wendy stated. "I thought staying at school over Christmas would be really terrible. But, I actually like it. I might stay again next year, even if my parents decide to stay home."  
Steven nodded in agreement. "I like it here. It's different than my house. That's for sure."  
"Does he always eat that much?" Wendy whispered to Stacy. She nodded her head to Ben, who was already on his third helping of everything.  
"He's being good today," Stacy joked. "Normally he-"  
"He's worse than my brother," Wendy interrupted. "Though, Tim's only eight. He'll get worse as he gets older. All boys do. Even the ones that don't eat much growing up. They'll turn into pigs by the time they turn ten."  
Stacy giggled. "My father still eats a ton. He's always-"  
"The boys are talking about Quidditch again," Wendy remarked. "What a surprise!"  
"It does seem to be popular with them," Stacy agreed.   
"Steven wants to try out for the team next year. Him and everyone else in our house. There'll be a lot of spots though. All of our good players are graduating this year," Wendy babbled. "I might try out too. I'd like to be Seeker. Greg says I would be good at it. I'm small enough, anyway. You might be a good one too. Of course, you have to wait two years until Keith graduates. Unless, you try to take the position from him next year. But, then everyone would either love you or hate you. It might be too much of a risk. But, let me know if you want to try. I'll help you. I'm really good at training people to play. You grew up in a Muggle household, which could be a disadvantage. We'll see next year though."  
Stacy didn't say another word for the rest of the feast. Wendy rambled about Quidditch for a few more minutes, before moving on to classes then to the latest Hufflepuff rumors and finally to the book she was reading. It was enough to make Stacy really miss Courtney. While Courtney could give Wendy some competition for the most out-spoken first year title, at least she was not a gossip.   
Steven seemed pretty different from Wendy. He didn't talk much during the meal, except for an occasional remark about the food, Quidditch, or to let everyone know that he had to pass gas.   
Neither Wendy or Steven seemed like the stereotypical Hufflepuff. Though, Wendy was very patient and from what Stacy knew about her, she appeared to work hard. Steven was probably what was known as an odd-one-out. He did not fit into any of the other houses, so he was put in Hufflepuff.   
  
After the feast, Ben, Steven, and Justin went outside to watch Keith practice Quidditch. Stacy knew they were secretly hoping he would let them play with him. Wendy wanted to know if Stacy would come with her to the library, but Stacy declined saying she had already finished her homework. That statement was true- for the most part. She had spent Christmas Eve in the library with Ben doing work. She had spent most of the time trying to help Ben without letting him know she was helping him, but had managed to finish almost all of her homework.  
It was nice to have the entire Gryffindor Tower to herself for awhile. Stacy spent the afternoon writing and sketching in her new journal. She had filled up nearly thirty pages with drawings before her hand started begging her to stop. Then, she went back up to room and read 'Hogwarts, A History' for awhile. It was a boring afternoon, but also a nice change of pace from her usual schedule. Stacy was used to having a lot of time to herself back at home and had not adjusted to having four room mates right away.   
At somepoint in the afternoon, Stacy drifted off to sleep. Her dreams once again focused on the life and death of Eliza Redas. This time, there was a slight variation to her usual nightmare. After Eliza was burned at the stake, Stacy watched as her brother Michael pushed his way through the crowd to the town's jail. Once inside, he took the flask Eliza drank from before she was led to her death and he too drank what remained of it.   
Stacy sat up quickly when the dream reached this part. She looked down and saw her whole body was shaking and sweaty. Her head was pounding like it had the day she had fallen off her broom.   
It was time. She had been putting this off long enough. She had to do this before it was too late. Stacy tore off a piece of parchment and wrote a letter to her grandmother.  
  
To Be Continued...  
  
A/N:  
Ooh.. It's a mystery. Actually, I think it's probably getting to be pretty obvious where I'm going with this story. Oh well. I'll keep writing anyway.  
The usual comments: Thanks for reading. Sorry for spelling/grammar mistakes. REVIEW!!!  
Ok, I think that's all I have to say this time. The next part might actually come out soon since I'm planning to start it within the hour. I think it's going to be a journal part. I haven't decided yet though.  
Any comments, concerns, questions- always welcome. No flames please, but constructive criticism is good. =)  
- Hope  



	7. Stacy's Diary

This is a story about a girl named Lucky…   
  
Early morning, she wakes up   
Knock, knock, knock on the door   
It's time for makeup, perfect smile   
It's you they're all waiting for   
They go…   
"Isn't she lovely, this Hollywood girl?"   
And they say…   
  
She's so lucky, she's a star   
But she cry, cry, cries in her lonely heart, thinking   
If there's nothing missing in my life   
Then why do these tears come at night   
  
Lost in an image, in a dream   
But there's no one there to wake her up   
And the world is spinning, and she keeps on winning   
But tell me what happens when it stops?   
They go…   
"Isn't she lovely, this Hollywood girl?"   
And they say…   
  
She's so lucky, she's a star   
But she cry, cry, cries in her lonely heart, thinking   
If there's nothing missing in my life   
Then why do these tears come at night   
  
"Best actress, and the winner is…Lucky!"   
"I'm Roger Johnson for Pop News standing outside the arena waiting for Lucky"   
"Oh my god…here she comes!"   
  
Isn't she lucky, this Hollywood girl?   
She is so lucky, but why does she cry?   
If there's nothing missing in her life   
Why do tears come at night?   
  
She's so lucky, she's a star   
But she cry, cry, cries in her lonely heart, thinking   
If there's nothing missing in my life   
Then why do these tears come at night   
  
December 25-  
Does that song describe me or what? That's what Mandy says anyway. She says she thinks of me everytime she hears it. I guess that's nice. My best friend thinks of me when she hears a song about a lonely movie star.  
But, it makes me think. Am I as lonely as Mandy thinks I am? I read a letter from her today and she sounded happy. I don't think people even miss me back in California. Oh well.   
Today's Christmas! It was a pretty good one too. Very different from Christmas at home, but not bad. I got a TON of candy! Plus, some other cool stuff. The weirdest part was that the invisibility cloak I got in the beginning of the year is back.   
My father knows me too well. He sent you to me just as I was on the last page of my old diary. My mother sent me makeup. And, she actually thinks I'll wear it too. I like makeup ok, but I don't think I'll use it while I'm at school. I don't think I could take the torment I'd get from Ben everyday.  
Well, I'm going to read my new books now. I'll write more later.  
-Stacy   
  
December 27 -  
Another boring day. I'm actually starting to look forward to classes starting again. Then Courtney, Peter, and everyone else will be back. I even miss having homework! Why'd I have to do all of mine so early into the vacation?  
Keith took all of the boys outside to play Quidditch this morning. Wendy and I watched them for awhile. She was mad because Keith refused to let us play. I wasn't too upset about it. I'm still not very good at flying. What if I fell again? Maybe I'd have more fun in the infirmary than in here.  
Grandma hasn't written back to me yet. I'm starting to get worried about her. My mother said she was sick, but she didn't say what was wrong with her. I hope it isn't anything serious. I hate when my family keeps things from me. They think they're protecting me. I don't need their protection! I'm not as weak and timid as everyone thinks I am. At least, I hope I'm not.   
Ben just came back. The boys' Quidditch game is finally over. He wants to go see Hagrid. I guess I'll go with him. More later.  
- Me  
  
December 27 evening-  
Well, I just got back from dinner. Keith and Ben are playing another game of wizard chess now. They've been playing every night since our break started. They refuse to let me play. Life isn't fair!  
Ben and I didn't make it down to see Hagrid. Professor Potter stopped us in the hall and asked if we could help him with a lesson plan. He's going to teach us about evil wizards, like Voldemort, when classes start again. He said he is only supposed to teach them to seventh years, but he decided to teach all of his classes.   
Ben was really excited about it. Voldemort fascinates him.   
Not in a bad way. Or not in the way that came out. He just thinks he's very interesting.   
I think I'm tired. That's why I'm not making any sense. Goodnight.  
  
December 29-  
I got a letter today! It wasn't from Grandma though. It was another one from Courtney. Rachel's driving her insane still. She says she can't wait to get back to school. She hates not being able to do magic at home. Peter wrote to Ben yesterday. He's having a good vacation. At least one of is.  
I helped Ben with his homework again. I think he's starting realize that when I "suggest" how he might want to try a question I'm actually giving him the answer. Oh well. If it keeps him here, it's worth it. He's starting to do better in school. I've seen him in the library a lot.   
I seriously think he might have a crush on Courtney! He got a really excited look in his eye when I mentioned she'd written to me. But, then he pretended not to care when I read her letter. As Mom always says, 'That's like a guy'.  
I played chess today! The boys finally let me have a turn! Ben let me win. I know he did. I was really bad at it, but I ended up winning anyway. I started a game with Keith, but he wandered off halfway through so I played with Ben again. And won again.  
It's really weird being in here by myself. There's almost always someone else in our room when I'm in here. It's almost like being back at home except there are four other beds and everything looks different.   
I read the first few chapters of my mother's latest book today. Why do publishers keep printing her books? They're all the same! This one's focused around me. The first few chapters are about my conception and her pregnancy. It wasn't that bad. She didn't go into a lot of detail. Thank God.   
Keith and Ben just came back up from another Quidditch session. It's time for dinner.  
  
December 30-  
I am so tired! Wendy and I got to play Quidditch today since two of the boys didn't show up. She was thrilled and actually did really well. I wouldn't be surprised if she really does make the Hufflepuff team next year.  
Anyone who actually thought I would be good at it was proven wrong today. They made me Seeker for my team. Keith, of course, was the other one. He had caught the Snitch before I even noticed it. Wendy insists all I need is a good trainer- her.   
Professor Potter monitored our game today instead of Madam Hooch. He seemed to enjoy watching us play. After the game, he gave me some advice on how to be a better Seeker. Ben found this really funny and wouldn't stop teasing me about it during dinner. He's starting to get on my nerves.  
-Stacy  
  
December 31-  
It's New Years Eve! My parents are probably at some important person's party. Not that I'm bitter about it. I hate going to those parties. All of the people ask me if I'm sure I'll be able to stay awake until midnight and when I do they insist I took a nap sometime during the party. It's really annoying!  
My grandmother STILL hasn't written back yet. I'm getting worried now. I haven't seen Ana for a couple days. If I don't hear from either of them tomorrow I'm going to send another letter with a school owl.  
Hogwarts doesn't do a lot for the New Year. It really is not an important holiday for wizards. We had a normal dinner, but they are letting all of us, not just the third years and up, go into Hogsmeade tonight for a festival there. I can't wait! Keith keeps talking about how great it is there.   
Plus, Courtney and Peter are going to meet us there. The rest of the school is coming back tonight to go the festival. It's the first time they've had one, so everyone's really excited. It's going to be really fun. We don't have to wear our school robes! I might even wear a little makeup. Not much though. Ben's teased me enough today.  
Oh! Ana just flew in my room. My grandmother's going to meet me at the festival. Well, I better go get ready.   
- Stacy   
  
A/N:  
That was pretty weak. Oh well. I tried to make it like an eleven year old's journal. My entries when I was Stacy's age sounded something like that anyway. And since Stacy's loosely based on myself, it works out I guess.  
This part wasn't a real chapter, I guess. I don't know when Chapter 7 will be out. Sometime in the next week I hope.   
The main purpose of this was to set up some things and to get through the Christmas vacation quickly. I know I said it was 2 weeks long in the previous chapter and this was only about nine days. My idea is that it was supposed to be two weeks, but they all came back early for the festival.  
I don't remember them celebrating New Years in the books, so I just made the festival up. It does have a purpose though...  
Once again, sorry for spelling/grammar errors. Please review and let me know what you thought.   
Thanks!  
- Hope  
  
Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling and Scholastic. (I think I've forgotten the disclaimer for some parts. Well, I don't own it at all!)  
And, the song in the beginning is Lucky by Britney Spears. I don't own her or the song.   



	8. A New Year

Hogsmeade positively shimmered with the mixture of snow, candles, and fairy dust on the evening of the Festival of the New Year. Stacy Arrons poked her head out of the carriage she was sharing with her friends Benjamin Wright, Justin Taylor, Wendy Tyson, and Steven Smith. Her eyes wandered around the town. Past Honeydukes and the Shrieking Shack and Three Broomsticks to the center of the town. There was already a crowd of several hundred witches and wizards wandering around the booths of games, food, merchandise, and fortune telling. Stacy could also see several rides toward the back of the mob.  
The carriages came to a halt at the edge of the crowd. Stacy climbed out and followed the other students who had stayed at Hogwarts over vacation. Professor McGonagall stopped them before they entered the fair with instructions to stay only in the town square, always stay with at least one another person, and to meet back in the same place at one o'clock. Stacy glanced at her watch. That would give them five hours at the party. It also gave her about two hours before she was supposed to meet her grandmother by Honeydukes. She only hoped she would be able to get away from the watchful eyes of her teachers.   
The second Professor McGonagall had finished her lecture, Ben grabbed Stacy's arm and dragged her off in the direction of the rides. Justin trailed behind them, glancing every which way with either amazement or sorrow. Stacy couldn't tell which.  
The first ride the boys decided to go on was called the Willow Whomper, based on the Whomping Willow. Two people would get in a cart and ride through a tunnel with a fake giant willow tree over it. They had to drive the cart in a way which would get them out alive and without letting the willow's roots strangle them. They were given a club to use as defense against the tree. Stacy watched in horror as the group before them came out with cuts and scratches everywhere. They were laughing hysterically, but she could not see anything funny about being beaten up by a fake tree. Fortunately for Stacy, she was two inches under the height regulation.   
Ben and Justin had only entered the tunnel a minute before Stacy heard someone shouting her name. She turned around to see her friends Peter Trey and Courtney Flowers were back.   
"Stacy!" Courtney squealed happily as she hugged her friend. "I am so glad we're here! I was afraid the Hogwarts Express wouldn't get us here before the festival ended."  
"Why?" Stacy asked. "What happened?"  
Peter shrugged. "We're not sure. The train stopped halfway here for about an hour. Professor Granger was in the same car as us, but she refused to tell us anything."  
"I don't think even she knew what was going on," Courtney stated.   
  
About ten feet away from where the first years were standing, Hermione Granger was having an interesting discussion with her friends Harry Potter and Ron Weasley.   
"Was it really him?" Ron asked her again. His eyes were still wide with shock.  
Hermione nodded. "And to think I would have missed everything if I hadn't gone to see my parents for Christmas. I'm sure Professor Dumbledore isn't going to let the information out. Not even to the other teachers."  
"How is he going to hide him?" Harry asked with a touch of confusion in his voice.  
"It wouldn't be that difficult, would it?" Ron remarked. "They've hidden stuff in Hogwarts before, the Sorcerer's Stone for instance."  
"A person would be harder to hide than an object," Harry said.   
"Dumbledore will find a way," Hermione affirmed. "He has to."  
  
By half past eight, the festival was in full swing and extremely crowded with adult witches and wizards along with the entire student body from Hogwarts. Every ride and booth had a line stretching across the town square. It was all too much for Stacy. She always felt very confused in large crowds.   
After Ben and Justin returned from the Willow Whomper covered in cuts and laughing, the group joined the line for the Spinner, a ride which resembled a Muggle ferris wheel. The Spinner consisted of twenty benches which traveled in a circle like a ferris wheel. The main difference was that they were not connected to a central object, but simply floated around in mid-air. And, they constantly turned upside-down in an attempt to throw the person out.   
Stacy was reluctant to go on the ride, but Ben insisted she had to. He said it was the tamest one and he refused to let her sit it out. Stacy climbed onto a bench with Courtney while the boys got on the one in front of them.   
Justin looked even more depressed than usual. Stacy glanced in the direction he was staring. A large group of Slytherins were gathered by the base of the Spinner. Several of them were pointing and yelling insults at Justin. Stacy couldn't help feeling sorry for him. The Slytherins never relented in their teasing of Justin. They couldn't accept that his friends were in Gryffindor and Hufflepuff. Courtney angrily pulled her wand out and shot several sparks in the air before Professor McGonagall showed up and led the Slytherins away. Justin glared furiously at her, but Courtney seemed quite pleased with herself. Then without warning, their bench toppled over and Stacy had to grab her friend before she fell.   
After about a five minute ride on the Spinner, Stacy was relieved to feel dirt under her feet once more. Peter, Justin, and Greg wanted to get in line again, but Courtney, sensing Stacy's nausea at the very thought of it, said they would get something to eat while the boys went on their rides.   
The lines for refreshments were even longer than the ones for the rides. But, there were more choices than Stacy had ever seen in her life. There was a stand for every kind of food imaginable. Courtney and Stacy got in a line for Italian food. After purchasing a butterbeer and two slices of pizza each, they sat down at a small table in the center of the festival. Stacy glanced at her watch again. She only had a half an hour until her reunion with her grandmother.   
"You wouldn't believe what my holidays were like," Courtney ranted between mouthfuls of pizza. "Rachel has to be the brattiest older sister in the world. She wouldn't leave me alone the whole time. She kept coming in my bedroom and insisting I help her with her chores. She just expects me to drop everything and help her. But, does she ever help me? No! And, then all of her stupid friends came over and kept threatening to turn my hair green even though we aren't allowed to use magic over vacation. Of course, mother loves them and insisted they stay for most of the week." She paused long enough to take a breath of air. "You have to come with me next year!"  
Stacy was glad to have Courtney back at school. Though it had only been about a week, it felt as though she had not seen her friend for years. She could not imagine what it would be like to go the whole summer without seeing any of her school friends. She probably wouldn't see or hear from any of them for the whole summer vacation. She lived on the other side of the ocean!  
They had just finished their pizza when Stacy heard a clock chime. It was time to find her grandmother. She casually slipped away from Courtney when they met up with Greg Adams and about twenty other Hufflepuffs. Stacy just hoped no one would notice she was gone. But, that was never a problem. Unless Jane Martin was around, no one really noticed Stacy. She was generally just another first year. She liked it that way.  
  
Once she reached Honeydukes, Stacy quickly spotted her grandmother and a girl about her age. Roxanna looked paler than when Stacy had last seen at the beginning of the school year. There were dark circles under eyes which seemed to be slightly covered with foundation. Stacy couldn't help gawking at the sickly appearance of her generally glowingly healthy grandmother.   
Roxanna smiled weakly at her granddaughter and placed a hand on the young girl next to her. "Hello, Stacy. This is your cousin Elizabeth. She is the daughter of your Uncle Simon. She is staying with me while her parents are in Japan."  
Stacy studied the girl for a moment. Elizabeth had sparkling golden hair which was pulled back in a loose braid. Her eyes were green and seemed to light up her face. She looked like an angel as a candle floated over her head. Like the kind of daughter Natalie Arrons would have loved to have. Stacy couldn't help feeling slightly envious of her cousin. She felt plain and ugly next to her. Looks had never mattered to Stacy, but she could not stop herself from instantly feeling inferior. Her stringy, light brown hair and dull blue eyes did not equal Elizabeth's. Even with a little bit of lip gloss and eye glitter, she looked boring in comparison.  
"Hello! I'm so glad you could come." Stacy said brightly with a seemingly genuine smile. It appeared to decieve her relatives. Afterall, Stacy had not won an Oscar for nothing.  
"Is there a place where we can sit down?" Roxanna asked. Stacy could hardly believe that her face looked even more tired than it had a minute before.  
Stacy nodded and led the way back to a bench on the other side of the store. She sat down on the bench between her grandmother and cousin.  
A concerned look flooded Roxanna's face. "Now, Stacy, what was it you wanted to see me about?"  
Stacy took a deep breath and began to tell about her dreams. She said everything she could remember. When they started, the vision when she was flying and the one on Halloween, the bright green flashes, how realistic the dreams felt, the familiarity of so many things, the note she had received, her invisibility cloak, and what the dreams were about. She talked and talked for nearly twenty minutes before she could not think of anything else to add. She felt comforted to have the information out in the open instead of keeping it all inside her mind.   
"She doesn't know?" Elizabeth exclaimed in disgust when Stacy was done. "I've known for years! My father told me when I was five.What kind of father is my uncle? I suppose she just found out she was a witch as well." It was the first thing her cousin said that evening.  
Roxanna clamped a hand on Elizabeth's shoulder as if to tell her to stop talking. "I suppose we should have told you sooner, Stacy," She said apologetically. "You see, everyone in our family is a feeler. A feeler can sense the sort of power around them. They often have dreams about past experiences of other witches and wizards in the same area. The witch or wizard in your dreams must be extremely powerful for you to be feeling their power. Your feeling strength is not as strong as most of our family because your mother is a Muggle. If it were, you would have known about your talent a long time ago. I can sense all magic around myself. I can see anyone's past. I can control who I dream about and when. You do not have these controls. The person you are dreaming about wants to share their experiences. They have sought you out for a reason I do not know." She went into a coughing fit at this and excused herself from the girls for a minute.   
"I'm a pure feeler," Elizabeth boasted. A wicked grin spread across her face. "You are fortunate not to be one. It is quite a burden for me. I can sense every bit of magic everywhere." She faked a sigh. "Only the strong can handle it."  
Anger burned inside of Stacy, but she promptly suppressed it. "Where do you go to school?" She cheerfully asked her cousin.   
Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "A Muggle school. It is simply awful! You can't imagine what fools Muggles are. They know absolutely nothing!" She paused and smiled sympathetically at Stacy. "Not that there's anything wrong with them. I'm sure your mother is wonderful. The tabloids seem to think so."   
It took all of her willpower not to get mad, but Stacy managed to remain calm. Maybe the Sorting Hat had been correct when it said she would make a good Hufflepuff. In an overly patient voice, Stacy inquired, "Why don't you go to Hogwarts?"  
"I start next year," Elizabeth said eagerly. Stacy felt something turn over in her stomach and it wasn't her pizza. "I can't wait! It has to be great. I wonder what house I will be in."  
"I'm a Gryffindor," Stacy stated. She giggled quietly at the look of shock on Elizabeth's face.   
"I'm sure I will be one too," Elizabeth said. "I cannot see myself in any of the other houses. Especially not Hufflepuff."  
"Have you received your acceptance letter yet?" Stacy asked innocently. Maybe there was a chance she wouldn't even get in to Hogwarts!  
Elizabeth shook her head. "But, I will. They never send them until your eleventh birthday anyway. It would be a disgrace if I didn't get in. I mean, you got in!"  
"What does that mean?" Stacy said irritably. She couldn't hold it in anymore. "Where do you get off thinking you're better than me? For your information, I probably know more about magic now than you. Just because I grew up as a Muggle does not give you the right to look down your nose at me!" She jumped off the bench and ran angrily in the direction of the festival.   
  
"Miss Arrons!" A stern voice exclaimed. Stacy could make out the dim figure of Professor McGonagall hurrying toward her. "Did I or did I not specifically tell you to always stay with other students and not to leave the festival?"  
"Yes, ma'am, you did say that," Stacy muttered. She looked down at her feet. She hated being in trouble.   
Her teacher sighed furiously. "Detention and fifteen points from Gryffindor." Stacy thought she heard her muttering something about this being the last time first years were allowed to come to Hogsmeade.   
"Stacy!" Elizabeth's voice yelled from behind her. "Stacy! Come here! It's Grandma. I think she's dead."  
Stacy ran to the spot where Elizabeth was standing with Professor McGonagall right behind her.   
Elizabeth was standing over their grandmother shaking hysterically. Roxanna was lying perfectly still on the ground next to Honeydukes. Stacy felt her heart pounding as Professor McGonagall leaned over Roxanna to feel for a pulse.   
"She's alive," McGonagall said as she stood up with a look of relief on her face. "We have to get help for her. Stacy, go back to the festival and find Madam Pomfrey. You-" She looked at Elizabeth.  
"E-elizabeth," She filled in. Her usual confident glare was gone. It was replaced by a look of concern. Stacy couldn't help wondering if she had judged her cousin too quickly.  
"Elizabeth, help me prop her up. She can't breath in this position."  
Stacy hurried off toward the festival as they moved Roxanna into a sitting position.  
"Stacy!"   
She whirled around to see Courtney, Ben, Justin, and Peter rushing toward her.   
"Where were you?" Justin asked eagerly.  
"We were worried!" Peter cried. "We asked Professor McGonagall to find you."  
"Did you get in trouble?" Ben asked slyly.   
"Have you seen Madam Pomfrey?" Stacy asked, completely ignoring the questions.  
"No," Courtney said. "But-"   
"It's important!" Stacy cried impatiently. "I need to find her now."  
She turned and rushed away from her friends. She pushed through the crowd asking every familiar face if they had seen her. Penny Prickle had not seen her, but offered to help with the search. Jane Martin had seen her an hour before, but could not tell her where she was at the moment. But, the situation reminded her of a movie Stacy had been in. Greg Adams and Jana Black had not seen her at all. In fact, they had not seen any teachers all night and were in considerably good moods. Wendy Tyson had seen her earlier and wasted five minutes of Stacy's valuable time describing what sort of robe the nurse had been wearing. Steven Smith simply grunted and walked away from her. Finally, Stacy gave up. She had spent nearly a half hour searching every inch of the fair.   
"Stacy!" Courtney yelled. "Come on. Your grandmother's awake."  
"How-" Stacy started, but simply shook her head in confusion.   
Courtney grinned happily. "We split up and found her. We said you needed her for something and told her what direction you came from."  
"Is she-" Stacy began.  
"She gave her a potion of some sort. Some kind of healing potion, I think. Anyway, she's fine now. A little tired, but she's awake and wanted to see you."  
Stacy followed Courtney back to Honeydukes. A small crowd was gathered around it. Stacy could see Professor McGonagall, Madam Pomfrey, Ben, Peter, Justin, Greg, Jana Elizabeth, and Penny standing over her grandmother who was lying down on a bench.   
The crowd politely moved away ten feet, so Stacy could have a semi-private conversation with her grandmother.   
"How are you feeling?" Stacy asked quietly.  
"I've seen better days," Roxanna joked. "But, don't worry about me. You have more important things to keep your mind on now."  
Stacy nodded eagerly. "What should I do about it? Do I do anything? I mean, if someone wants to contact me that badly, wouldn't they let me know who they are?"  
Her grandmother looked thoughtful for a moment. "Perhaps, they can't tell you. I have read much about our history over the years. From the sounds of it, the dreams you are having are directly related to an event which took place several centuries ago. A young girl named Eliza Redas was killed for the death of her parents and for being a witch. Our records prove that she was indeed a witch and a powerful one at that. The strange thing is that she never showed any signs of being evil. She used her power for good. Eliza had very good relations with her community and her family. She used her magic to benefit others rather than herself."  
"Then why did she kill her parents?" Stacy asked.  
"That has never been proven. It was only speculation back then. But, today it is a popular belief that her brother Michael was the actual murderer. Wizard friends of the Redas family stated there was a strong sibling rivalry between them. Michael was older than Eliza and resented the fact that she was more powerful than him. He was selfish and hated that their parents adored Eliza's charitable contributions to the world. Again, this is only speculation, but it fits better than the idea that Eliza truly was the bad child."  
Stacy nodded slowly. This theory would explain her dreams. She always felt fear when Michael was in it. Something in her kept saying Eliza was innocent. There was just one thing that bothered her. "But, why would I be having these dreams now? They have both been dead for hundreds of years."   
"It was common knowledge then that Eliza was working to find a potion which would allow people to come back from the dead sometime after their death and live a new life. She planned to use this for her sick aunt, but some believe she drank it herself before she was burned at the stake."  
"She did!" Stacy whispered excitedly. "In my dreams, Eliza drinks a potion and says 'I will come again'. Then, she is taken out to be executed. Michael remains in the jail for a minute. And, then he too drinks it."  
Roxanna's face lit up happily. The expression of sickness started to disappear from her face. "Then, I am right! They both came back. You see, Eliza would want you to know what happened. She probably sees you as a possible ally. But, she would not want Michael to find out who she is. If they are unknown to you, they were most likely unknown to each other as well."  
"But, how do I know who they really are?" Stacy asked.  
"They are most likely people you already know. People who are going to your school. They would be close to the same age, but not in the same class. I think I can help you with Eliza. How well do you know Jana Black?"  
Stacy's mouth opened in surprise. "Jana? She's one of my friends."  
"Does she know about your dreams?"   
"I haven't told anyone about them."  
"Mention them tomorrow when you see Jana. I have a feeling her reaction should be an interesting one."   
"What about Michael?"   
Roxanna shook her head. "I can't help you with that. But, don't go looking for him. He is more powerful than you. He has killed his own family and would not think twice before doing you in as well. Promise me you will not seek him out, Stacy?"  
"Grandma, I would never-" Stacy started. "I promise."  
"Good," She smiled. "Make sure you keep that promise."  
"What about my invisibility cloak?"   
Roxanna looked thoughtful once again. "Do you have it with you?"  
Stacy nodded and pulled it out of her backpack.   
A look of alarm crossed her face. Stacy glanced at the cloak. Her grandmother was staring intently at something Stacy had not noticed before. Stitched lightly on the edge of the cloak were the letters TSA.   
Roxanna swallowed loudly. Tears welled up in her eyes. "Just as I thought. This is a gift from your grandfather."  
  
To Be Continued...  
  
Author's Notes:  
This part's main purpose was to set up some things I will continue on when I write about Stacy's second year. I am actually planning to write about that at this point. The other purpose was to set up a few more things for the last couple chapters.  
I'm not sure how much longer this will be. I think it's getting pretty obvious where I'm going with it and where it'll end. So much for the mystery part of it...  
Once more, sorry for spelling/grammar mistakes. Also, my description of Hogsmeade is probably off. I described it the way I pictured it. Oh well...  
PLEASE let me know what you think! Reviews are really great and help me out by letting me know if anyone's actually reading this. No flames, please, but constructive criticism, predictions, suggestions, whatever are all good.  
Thanks for reading! =)  
Until next time- whenever that is-  
- Hope  



	9. A Lesson in History

Snow fell in sheets as Stacy walked to the greenhouses with Courtney, Ben, and Peter. 'Does it ever stop snowing here?' She pondered as Courtney almost slipped on a sheet of ice. Stacy was not used to snow. She had only seen it once while visiting her mother on the set of a movie in New York before coming to Hogwarts. Now, she had to walk through it nearly everyday.   
A strong gust of wind suddenly knocked Stacy and Peter to the ground. Ben laughed loudly as Courtney struggled to help her friends stand back up. Stacy sighed in despair as she noticed her cloak was soaked once again. She couldn't believe there was a time when she wished for snow in California just so that she could have a day off from school. Now she was longing for the days when she could still go to the beach in the middle of winter. It had been snowing nearly every day since Christmas. The Hogwarts lawns were covered in nearly five feet of snow. Hagrid had fixed it so there was a cleared path between the school and the greenhouses, but even the path was already covered in ice and two inches of snow.   
The rest of the Gryffindors and the Slytherins were already inside by the time they managed to force their way over the ice. The greenhouse was much warmer than it was outside. Stacy happily removed her wet cloak and hung it up on a rack by the door before joining Courtney and Carrie Sarers at a table. Ben, Peter, and Justin Taylor were at the one next to theirs.   
"Today," Professor Longbottom stated as he made his way to the front of the class. "We will be learning about Rutaweeds. Can anyone tell me what a Rutaweed is?"  
As usual, Courtney's hand was the first and only one in the air.   
"A Rutaweed is an herb used for healing potions. It can close cuts and cure burns," Courtney answered once she was called on. "It also has the power to greatly reduce fevers, cold symptoms, and aches among other diseases."  
Professor Longbottom looked pleased with her answer. Someone had actually done the reading he assigned! "Madam Pomfrey needs a new supply of Rutaweeds, so I have been asking all of my classes to grow them for a project. You will be graded on how well yours turns out and whether it can be used for the potion. It will be worth three homework assignments. We are going to the library for the rest of this class so that you may research how to grow them. Come Monday with a six inch report about Rutaweeds."  
With that said, the class bundled up in their cloaks, gloves, and and scarfs and hurried back outside into the snow. Stacy screeched in surprise as a snowball hit her in the back of the head. She whipped around to see Ryan Arnold standing three feet behind her snickering. "I always wondered what happens when you mix snow with mud!" He exclaimed sarcastically causing all of the Slytherins except for Justin and Carrie to laugh hysterically. Stacy felt mildly confused. Mud? She wasn't dirty.  
"How dare you- you jerk!" Justin yelled. His face was red and splotchy from a mixture of coldness and anger. His hands were balled up into fists by his side.  
This caused the Slytherins to laugh harder. "I'm a jerk?" Ryan asked in a faux innocent voice. "Golly gee that hurts! Especially coming from you, Taylor."  
"Want me to hurt you?" Justin snarled. He suddenly pounced on Ryan, sending both of them flying onto a mountain of snow.   
"Boys!" Professor Longbottom cried as he rushed out of the greenhouse. He wrapped his arms around Justin and tried to pull him off of Ryan. Justin shoved him away and proceeded to punch Ryan repeatedly in the face before jumping up. Ryan was pulled out of the snow by two of his friends. Blood was streaming rapidly down his face from his nose.   
Professor Longbottom looked anxious and uncertain what to do. In a shaking voice he ordered Ryan's friends to escort him up to see Madam Pomfrey. Then, he took twenty points from Slytherin and gave Justin a detention.   
"But, he was provoked!" Peter exclaimed. "Ryan called Stacy something nasty!"  
"He suggested that she was- that she was a mudblood!" Ben cried.  
Professor Longbottom nodded his head slightly. He had disliked Ryan ever since the first day of school and immediantly believed this statement. "Then, he too will have detention and twenty more points will be taken from Slytherin."  
The Slytherins growled angrily and glared at Peter and Ben before Professor Longbottom urged the class on toward the school. Stacy was glad when they reached the castle. It felt good to be able to feel her feet once again.  
  
The library was unusually crowded for the middle of the morning when the class arrived. The first year Hufflepuffs were gathered around various tables and wandering through the shelves of books. Stacy and her friends sat down at a long table with Greg, Jana, Steven, and Wendy.   
"Why are you guys here?" Carrie asked them.   
Carrie had been unusually nice ever since coming back from Christmas vacation. Stacy was starting to like her more than her twin sister Mary in Ravenclaw. Mary was seemed too stuck-up. She reminded Stacy of some of the people she used to go to school with. Carrie, while a Slytherin, was nice and very funny. Courtney also liked her better than Mary. But, Stacy couldn't help wondering if that was because Mary was the only first year with marks to rival Courtney's.  
"Professor Binns wasn't feeling well, so our class was cancelled," Jana answered. "We're supposed to do research for a paper on Voldemort."  
Everyone except for Stacy and Jana jumped slightly at the mention of his name.   
"Don't say that! Don't say his name!" Wendy cried, earning a glare from MadamVasta.   
Stacy couldn't help wondering how a ghost couldn't be feeling well, but decided not to ask. She felt stupid enough already for not understanding what was insulting about what Ryan said to her.   
"He's dead," Jana shrugged. "How can you still be afraid of someone who's dead?"  
"Exactly," Professor Potter said from behind her. "That's what I have been saying for years. Stacy, Jana, could I see both of you in my office in about five minutes?" The girls nodded uncertainly and he walked back out of the library.  
"What does he want to see you for?" Courtney asked curiously.   
"Are you in trouble?" Ben asked excitedly. He seemed to enjoy watching his friends get into trouble for some reason. Courtney claimed it was because he was always in trouble for his low grades. Though, he was starting to do better in his classes. Stacy noticed that he was actually passing all of them now. She had managed to help him with most of his assignments ever since Christmas. He didn't even try to stop her from assisting him anymore.  
"I don't think so," Stacy said uncertainly. She hadn't been in trouble since the New Years festival when she snuck off to see her grandmother. But, even then she had not really been in trouble. After her grandmother explained the situation, Professor McGonagall had cancelled her detention and given back the points to Gryffindor. Stacy's grandmother and cousin Elizabeth had gone home immediantly after the festival. Roxanna did not feel well and said she needed to go home and rest. She left Stacy with orders to speak to Jana about her dreams and to report back to her with the results.   
Now, three weeks after the festival, Stacy had not done either of these tasks. She tried to convince herself that it was because she had been too busy with school to worry about anything else. While the teachers had increased her workload considerably, this was not the complete truth. Stacy was too afraid to say anything to Jana. Part of her thought her grandmother was completely wrong and she was afraid to make a fool of herself by bringing it up. Part of her was still uncertain that Eliza was the good Redas sibling. She couldn't help wondering if Michael was the one she really should be trying to find. And, part of her just wanted to ignore the entire problem. It wasn't really hers to deal with. If someone needed her help, they obviously knew where to find her.   
Jana jumped up suddenly, bringing Stacy out of her thoughts. "It's been almost five minutes," she announced.  
"Want me to come with you?" Wendy asked eagerly. Stacy groaned inwardly. That was the last thing she needed. Wendy would be only too happy to inform everyone in the school about what happened in Professor Potter's office.   
A smile crossed Jana's face. "We'll be fine. Besides, Professor Potter only said he wanted to see us."   
Courtney looked up from the book she was reading for her report. She was the only one at their table doing the assignment. "Are you going?"  
"Yeah," Stacy replied with a hint of anxiety.   
"Come on, Stacy," Jana said cheerfully. Stacy could never understand how she could always be so happy. Nothing seemed to intimidate her.  
They walked silently to Professor Potter's office. He was waiting inside with Professors McGonagall, Dumbledore, and Granger. Another man with red hair was standing toward the back of his office.   
"Have a seat," Professor Potter said as soon as they finished glancing nervously around the room. Stacy was relieved to see that Jana also seemed worried now. They sat down in two empty chairs in the middle of the group.   
"This is my friend Ron Weasley," Professor Potter told them. "I believe you know everyone else." The girls nodded dimly. Stacy stared at the man for a moment. He was the one she saw with Professor Potter at the beginning of the year.   
"I received an interesting letter from your grandmother today, Stacy," Professor Dumbledore said suddenly. There was a faint twinkle in his eye, despite the serious expressions on the other teachers.   
"Oh. Really?" Stacy asked nervously. She twirled a strand of hair tightly around her finger.   
"Yes. Do you know what it was about?" He continued. Stacy shook her head and studied her feet with such determination Jana couldn't help laughing.  
"Is there something funny, Miss Black?" Professor McGonagall snapped.  
"No, ma'am," Jana whispered.  
"Your grandmother said you have a trait which runs in your family. You are a feeler," Professor Dumbledore said kindly. "That's a very interesting trait to have and very rare. It only runs in a few families today."  
"Really?" Stacy asked. Dumbledore nodded.  
"Um, sorry to interrupt, but what does this have to do with me?" Jana asked cautiously.  
"I think you already know that, Eliza," Dumbledore said gently. The twinkle in his eye seemed to grow brighter.  
Jana's opened widely all of the sudden. "W-what?" She stammered.   
"Your name is Eliza Redas," McGonagall stated.   
Jana shook her head. "No, it isn't. My name is Jana Black! Eliza was a murderer. A traitor! She killed her family and deserved to die. Why would you think I am her?"  
Professor Granger quickly moved over to her and placed the Swarte charm against Jana's arm. It turned such a brilliant shade of green the entire room was lit up.  
Stacy watched as her friend's expression changed from a mixture of anger and anxiety to something that resembled relief.   
Jana smiled patiently at everyone and put her hands in the air. "Okay, you got me," She said with a cheerful smile on her face. "I am Eliza."  
The teachers looked taken aback by her confession. They obviously had not expected her to give in so easily.   
Jana/Eliza- Stacy wasn't really sure what to call her- took the charm out of Hermione's hands and turned it over a couple times. "The Swarte charm," She mused. "I haven't seen this in ages. Not since Michael- Well, I don't really want to go into that."  
"Perhaps you should explain everything," Professor McGonagall requested.   
"Alright," Jana said with a little less enthusiasm. "I died. I came back. What else do you want to know?"   
The teachers stared expectantly at her.   
"Do we need to ask Professor Snape for a truth potion?" Professor McGonagall asked.   
Jana sighed and leaned back a little in her chair. Then, she finally told her tale.   
"It all began when I was about eleven years old. Everyone in my family was a witch or wizard. I realized this when I was about four years old and I saw my cousin turn his dog into a bear. There were not any formal schools of witchcraft in the colonies then. My parents sent us to the neighbor's house everyday for lessons when I was eleven and he was fourteen. We were friends growing up, but learning magic tore us apart. He began to hate me soon after we started our lessons. I was able to receive a better education because I was younger when I started. I also caught on to what we learned faster than my brother. He had difficulty with potions especially. That was another reason he hated me. I excelled in making potions. That's why I'm here today."  
"And, why he is too," Stacy noted.  
Jana's eyes widened again. "Michael's here? But- but how?"  
"We think he drank the potion too," Professor Granger stated.  
"You didn't know?" Stacy asked. "But, you were the one who sent me the visions."  
A strange look flickered through Jana's eyes. "No," She said slowly. "I didn't."  
"Why don't you finish your story?" Ron asked, cutting off Stacy before she could ask another question.   
"Well, I made the potion for my aunt Gertrude. She had smallpox and the town doctor said she would die soon. I made the potion so that she would be born again as a baby shortly after her death. But, before I could get it to her she died when her house was burned down."  
"Michael?" Stacy asked quietly.   
Jana nodded. "He bragged about it for weeks. He kept joking and saying it was my fault because I hadn't stopped him. I was fourteen by then. One day, I came home from our village to fine Michael standing over our parents with his wand clutched tightly in his hand. I knew right away that they were dead. Michael screamed at me the second I walked through the door. He insisted that I was the killer.   
I think he started to go insane toward the end. He kept shaking and saying it wasn't his fault and that I was to blame. He chased me out into the town square and publicly accused me of the murder. The townspeople believed him and I was sentenced to death on the spot. People had started thinking there was something strange about me months before the incident and instantly accepted that I was a witch.   
I was killed just days later. I managed to escape from the jail one night and get my potion from home. I strengthened it so that I would not return so soon to my death. I did not think centuries would go by before I was born though."  
"If you could escape, why didn't you just leave?" Stacy asked.  
"They would have found me. Michael was good with charms. He could have tracked me easily. He was very smart, just not too good with magic," Jana anwered. "Well, I'm not sure what happened to me after I died. I sort of floated around the earth for awhile. I wasn't a ghost. I'm not sure exactly what I was. Until, about twelve years ago I was pulled into a woman's uterus and nine months later was born as an infant. I grew up in a family of witches and wizards. I was now the oldest of three. My brother and sister are twin three year olds. The rest you already know. I was accepted here and, well, I came."  
The teachers exchanged a glance before Professor McGonagall spoke up. "I think that is enough for now. The next class has already begun and I am supposed to be teaching the first year Hufflepuffs now."  
Professor Dumbledore was staring intently out the window. "Did you have a funeral for your aunt?"  
Jana nodded. "We had a small one the day after her death. It wasn't what you consider a funeral today. We buried her remains behind our house with the rest of our deceased family members."  
Professor McGonagall stood up and walked toward the door. Jana followed her a minute later when Professor Dumbledore didn't say anything else.   
"What class do you have now, Stacy?" Professor Potter asked.   
"Charms," She replied.  
"Would you like it if we walk with you and tell Professor Flitwick why you are late?" Professor Granger offered. Stacy nodded and they too left.  
"What happens now?" Stacy asked once they were out of the office.  
The three adults exchanged a look over Stacy's head before Professor Potter answered, "We will try to find Michael. But, there is nothing more you can do. Your grandmother does not want you involved." His tone hinted that he did not think anything would stop Stacy from involving herself if she wanted to do so.  
"There has to be something I can do. I didn't have those dreams by mistake. Someone wanted me to know what was happening. But, it wasn't Jana, was it?" Stacy pondered.  
The adults exchanged another look, causing Stacy to roll her eyes. She hated being left out because people did not think she could handle the information and was too young to know.  
Before they could give a vague answer, they arrived outside the Charms classroom. Professor Granger went inside with Stacy and told Professor Flitwick a brief summary of the reason his student was late for class.   
Stacy joined Ben, Peter, and Courtney at a table where they were practicing floating charms. Ben, surprisingly, was the only one who had been able to float his feather. He grinned at Stacy and pointed proudly at his feather which was hovering around the ceiling. Courtney rolled her eyes in an obvious display of jealousy. It was the first time she was not the first in their group to figure out a spell or potion.   
By the end of class, there were four feathers drifting over their table. Ben was still gloating as they made their way to the Great Hall after class.   
"I love Charms," Ben remarked. "What other class could I be better than her at something?" He jerked a thumb at Courtney when he said 'her'.  
"Will you be quiet?" Courtney cried, causing several Gryffindors to stare at her.   
"Am I bothering you?" Ben asked innocently. "Sorry if you can't handle my higher intellect."   
Courtney stood up abruptly and ran out of the room, though lunch was not over. Stacy reluctantly followed her. She was strangely hungry and had not finished her food yet. Peter promised to save her a roll and anything else he could fit in his pockets.  
"Courtney!" Stacy called as she ran out of the Great Hall.  
"Ssh!" Her friend hissed and pulled her around the corner. "Look! I can't believe it!"  
Stacy peeked around the corner and saw Courtney's sister Rachel and Keith Stewart kissing.   
"What's so bad about that?" Stacy asked. Maybe it was because she grew up around her mother's friends, but kissing did not seem awful to her.  
Courtney ignored Stacy and continued to gawk at the couple in horror. "What are you doing to my sister? You're going to choke her!" She cried loudly.   
Rachel and Keith broke apart and stared at the girls.  
"Courtney!" Rachel yelled in a mixture of anger and humiliation.   
Keith chuckled. "Just doing her duty, right, Courtney? What little sister doesn't live for humilating their older sibling?"  
"I'm not little," Courtney scoffed.   
Stacy felt her face flush with embarrassment for Courtney. "Come on, Court," She muttered. "It's almost time for class."  
Courtney unwillingly trailed behind her after a severe glare from Rachel.   
"She should be thanking me. His tongue was going to kill her! How can they breathe like that anyway? It's disgusting!" Courtney ranted.  
"I don't know," Stacy replied. "Through their noses?"  
Both girls dissolved into a fit of giggles at this.   
  
The afternoon flew by quickly, despite the fact that they had Double Potions and that Snape was in an even worse mood than usual and that Stacy could not get Jana to talk to her about what happened that morning.  
"What's wrong with Jana?" Peter asked after class.  
"Jana?" Stacy squeaked. "Nothing's wrong with her. She's perfectly normal."  
Peter raised his eyebrow. "I meant why won't she talk to you? Is she mad?"  
"Oh," Stacy replied with a sigh of relief. "That. She's not mad at me. At least, I don't think so."  
"She seems angry, but I don't know why she should be," Courtney noted. She was in a better mood now because her potion had been better than Ben's. Of course, Ben had always been bad at Potions.  
"Did you do something to get her mad?" Ben asked with a grin.  
Stacy shook her head. "Not that I know of."  
  
The Gryffindor Common Room was packed after dinner that night. The older students were exceptionally happy because it was the Friday before a Hogsmeade weekend. The younger students were just content with the fact they did not have any more classes until Monday. Stacy and her friends sat around a table in the corner doing their homework despite the noise around them.   
"So, Rutaweed is good, right?" Ben asked. He was still struggling with the first inch of his Herbology report. Courtney was on her eighth and Stacy and Peter on their sixth.   
"No, unless you think healing people is good," Courtney replied sarcastically.   
"How many inches are you going to write?" Stacy asked her. "Isn't this supposed to be a short report?"  
Courtney shrugged. "Ten should be short enough. Maybe I'll make it a foot just so it's even."  
"Done," Peter announced as he dropped his quill. "I guess I'll do Potions now."  
Ben's eyes widened. "That's not due until Wednesday though. Isn't it?"  
"It's always good to think ahead," Courtney said wisely.  
"Wednesday's-" Ben started.  
"Only five days away!" Courtney interrupted. "And, it's a big assignment. You could use a good grade on it."  
"Then, you do it for me," Ben joked. Courtney rolled her eyes and went back to her report.  
"Were flying lessons cancelled?" Jessica Mullan asked them as she came out of the girls' bedroom.  
"Yeah," Stacy answered. "Too much snow. All of the brooms have ice on them."  
"Ok, thanks," Jessica said and walked over to where Christine and Julie were sitting.  
"I'm starting to hate snow," Stacy complained with a wrinkled nose. "It's so-"  
Professor McGonagall appeared in the doorway to Gryffindor Tower. She called for their prefects, Keith, Joan, and two others, to come see her for a moment. Stacy watched curiously as a look of alarm crossed their faces. After a couple of minutes, McGonagall left and Joan walked to the center of the common room.   
"Everyone," She called and the room became silent. "We are supposed to go to the Great Hall and stay there for the night. The teachers have to search the school."  
"Why? What happened?" Penny asked her sister.  
Joan shrugged. "A Hufflepuff- Jana Black- has disappeared."  
  
To Be Continued...  
  
Author's Note:  
I think there are going to be about 2-6 more chapters in this series. I haven't decided yet. I'm not sure when they're coming out. I'll try to write them as soon as possible.  
Once again, sorry for spelling/grammar mistakes. Oh, and I hope this wasn't too weird. I'm really tired and sore at the moment and just hope it made a little sense.  
Thanks for reading this! Please review! =)  
- Hope  



	10. Life Goes On

"I bet it was aliens."  
"Why would aliens want Jana? They could've abducted me instead. I could've taught them how to play Quidditch. I'm really good at Quidditch."  
"No you're not!"  
"I am too!"  
"She probably ran away. All of her stuff's gone too."  
"Why do the teachers think she's still in the school? The aliens would've taken her back to their planet by now."  
"Will you shut up about the aliens? They don't exist!"  
"Yeah, well, Muggles say magic doesn't exist either!"  
"You're impossible!"  
"You're impossible!"  
"Stop it!"  
"Stop it!"  
  
"Will you all please be quiet? I would like to get some sleep tonight," Stacy begged sleepily. It was nearly one in the morning and her friends refused to stop chattering.   
"Aw, we're sorry, Stace," Ben said apologetically. "If Courtney would stop talking I'd like to go to sleep too."  
"Me?" Courtney shrieked. "You're the one who won't stop talking. You and Wendy."  
Wendy glowered tiredly at her. "Fine. I know when I'm not wanted." She picked her sleeping bag up and stormed across the Great Hall. Greg and Steven followed her seconds later.  
"Where'd everyone go?" Peter asked as he opened his eyes. He had managed to fall asleep for a little while.  
Stacy yawned and rolled over in her sleeping bag. The teachers had ordered everyone to spend the night in the Great Hall while they searched for Jana. Many of the students were still awake despite the frequent warnings from the prefects to go to bed.   
The door to the Great Hall swung open for about the sixth time that hour and Professor Granger stepped in. Stacy watched as she walked over to Joan Prickle. They talked for about a minute before Professor Granger started to leave. Stacy jumped up and followed her outside the Great Hall.  
"Stacy!" She cried in surprise when Stacy caught up with her. "What are you doing out here? Shouldn't you be asleep?"  
"I couldn't sleep. It's too noisy in there," Stacy replied. "Is there anything I can do to help?"  
Hermione shook her head. "The best thing you can do now is wait with the rest of the students. We're almost done anyway. There are only a few tunnels left to search now."  
"Y-you haven't found her yet?" Stacy stammered. Her eyes widened slightly. 'Of course they haven't found her. Someone would have told everyone if they found her.' She scolded herself.  
Her teacher's head shook again. "It appears she's gone. She isn't the castle anywhere. Neither are her belongings."  
"There has to be something I can do!" Stacy insisted.  
"There isn't. Go to bed now. It's late."  
"But, Jana's my friend. You'll let me know if I can help, right?" Stacy pleaded.  
Professor Granger's face softened and she smiled. "Of course. Now go to sleep!"  
Stacy yawned and walked back into the Great Hall. 'Professor Granger 's right.' Stacy thought. 'There's nothing I can do. At least not tonight.'  
  
The sun shone brightly Saturday morning. Stacy stuck her head out of the window in her dormitory. She loved seeing the sun. It reminded her of home. Except for the mounds of snow everywhere.   
Things were back to normal now. The Hufflepuffs were still mourning the loss of one of their peers, but everyone else seemed to instantly forget about Jana's disappearance in favor of the Gryffindor/Ravenclaw Quidditch match that afternoon. The game had been postponed three times because of the weather, but was finally scheduled for that day. Hagrid could be seen clearing the Quidditch field and the two teams were practicing flying at opposite ends.   
Stacy moved away from the window and collapsed on her bed. Courtney was spinning around their room and singing a made up song:   
  
Today's the day  
Rachel's going to pay  
For being bad  
She'll be sad  
'Cause she is icky  
And her hands are sticky  
No one will be her friend  
By the game's end  
Keith will win  
She will- um she will sin  
  
"Sin?" Stacy asked in confusion.  
Courtney nodded as she spun causing her curls to bounce around hysterically. Suddenly, she tripped over Julie's shoes and fell onto Stacy's bed giggling.  
"Is it time for the game yet?" Courtney asked eagerly.  
Stacy glanced at her watch. "No, but it's almost time for lunch."  
Courtney jumped up happily and pulled Stacy with her. "Then, let's go. The sooner we eat, the sooner the game will start, right?" Stacy just stared at her. "Come on!"  
The two girls ran downstairs and found Ben and Peter playing a game of chess in the corner. Peter was winning for once, much to Ben's despair.  
"We're going to go eat lunch," Stacy told them. "Are you going soon?"  
"Once our game's over," Peter replied. Ben didn't seem to notice their arrival. He was too busy concentrating on his next move.  
"Which will be any second, if you move there," Courtney whispered to Peter.  
Ben, realizing he'd lost, moved to an open space which allowed Peter to move and win the game. Stacy felt sorry for Ben. He looked miserable. It was the first game he'd lost all year.   
"Good! You're done!" Courtney cried. "Now, can we please go eat? I don't want to miss the game."  
"The game doesn't start for an hour," Ben stated. He looked confused at seeing Courtney act so hyper. "And, how much sugar did you add to your cereal this morning?"  
Courtney giggled. "I don't know! I'm just so happy!"   
Stacy couldn't help laughing too when she saw the boys' expressions. They looked genuinely frightened of Courtney.   
Courtney grabbed Stacy's arms and started spinning around again. Stacy laughed and let her friend spin her around too which just scared the boys even more.   
After a minute of spinning, Courtney let go of Stacy's arms and ran out of the tower with her friends trailing behind her. They ate a brief lunch before joining the majority of the school in the stands by the Quidditch field. Courtney continued bouncing even as she sat down. Everyone in their row of the bleachers kept glaring at her, but she didn't seem to notice. She was too excited at the idea of her sister being beaten by her own boyfriend.   
Stacy leaned forward eagerly as the game started. It was now the fourth Quidditch match she had been to and she could finally understand the concept of the sport. The game started interestingly as the Gryffindor Chasers immediately seized control of the Quaffle and scored ten points. Courtney and Ben jumped up and down screaming while Stacy and Peter simply clapped politely. Stacy couldn't help thinking Courtney would be a good cheerleader- if the school had cheerleaders.  
"Hey guys," Greg said sadly as he walked over and sat with them.   
"What's wrong?" Courtney asked. The excitement in her eyes was replaced by concern.  
Greg shrugged a little. "I guess I'm just worried about Jana. I can't understand what happened to her."  
"She probably went home," Peter stated. "Has anyone contacted her parents?"  
"Professor Dumbledore sent them an Owl this morning," Greg replied. "Her mother just got here. They took her up to our house. She was so hysterical, I had to leave. I just don't see why Jana would run away like this."  
"Maybe she didn't run away," Ben suggested. "Maybe she was abduc-"  
"Don't you dare start up with the aliens thing again!" Courtney cried.  
Stacy stared at her feet guiltily. She felt bad for not telling her friends what she knew. It felt like all she did was keep things from them. She glanced around the stands, trying to focus on something else. All of the Ravenclaws and Gryffindors were there. A large group of Slytherins were sitting toward the far end. They weren't cheering for either team, but kept yelling insults at the Gryffindors. Stacy noted that neither Justin or Carrie were with them. Greg was the only Hufflepuff Stacy could see. She guessed they were all still in their tower.   
"Who do you want to win?" Stacy asked Greg in hope of changing the subject.  
Greg shrugged again. "Doesn't really matter, does it? Gryffindor, I guess."  
"We better win!" Courtney said. "I'd rather die than see Rachel win!"  
"Go Ravenclaw!" Ben yelled jokingly. Courtney smacked the back of his head and he winced in pain.  
"Why do you hate your sister so much?" Greg asked.  
"Don't get her started!" Ben cried, earning himself another smack in the back of his head.  
"Rachel's the biggest pain you can imagine. She's always bossing me around and being mean. And-" Courtney stopped talking abruptly and started choking. Stacy hit her friend on the back until she coughed up the Golden Snitch into her hand!  
Within seconds, Rachel and Keith were hovering over the group with the arms out ready the catch the Snitch when Courtney let go of it.  
"Court!" Rachel pleaded. "Give me the Snitch! Please!"  
"You want Gryffindor to win, don't you?" Keith asked her.  
Courtney glared at her sister and let the Snitch go in Keith's direction without a moment of thought. Everyone on the Gryffindor side of the stands cheered loudly as Keith flew down to the ground clutching the Snitch tightly in his hands. The Ravenclaw captain tried frantically to convince Madam Hooch that was a foul and the game wasn't over. Finally, she agreed and the game resumed. Except for one problem. Ravenclaw was now without a Seeker.  
"Courtney, maybe you should go talk to Rachel," Peter suggested.   
"Why?" Courtney asked in surprise.  
Peter pointed to a spot behind the bleachers. Stacy could see Rachel sitting on a rock there crying.   
Courtney shrugged. "Why bother? She'll just yell at me or something."  
"Courtney," Stacy said gently. "I think you hurt her feelings. You should say something nice to her." Stacy made sure to emphasize the word 'nice'.  
"Fine," Courtney sighed. She stood up and pushed her way through the crowd standing up to watch the game.  
"Who else hopes they kill each other?" Ben asked. This time it was Stacy who smacked the back of his head.  
  
"What do you want?" Rachel demanded as her sister sat down next to her. She rubbed her eyes hoping it would stop her tears.  
Courtney sighed again. "I'm sorry," She mumbled.  
"Why are you sorry?" Rachel growled. "Just because you like my boyfriend better than me- that's no reason to be sorry."  
"Do you always have to be such a jerk?" Courtney cried. "What have I ever done to you? Except exist."  
Rachel stared at her sister a moment. "What do you mean? You don't bother me."  
"I don't?" Courtney looked surprised.  
"Well, I mean you're pretty much a living model of the annoying little sister cliché, but you *are* my little sister."  
"I'm not little," Courtney said stubbornly. "You just think I am."  
Rachel gave her a small smile. "I guess not. It's just you remind me way too much of myself five years ago."  
"Don't say that!" Courtney exclaimed in a semi-horrified voice despite the smile creeping onto her face.   
"Do you really like Keith more than me?" Rachel asked teasingly. "Maybe I should keep and eye on you two."  
Courtney pretended to gag. "I don't like guys who insist on putting their tongue down my throat."  
"He didn't insist. I wanted him to," Rachel replied with a twinkle in her eyes.  
"Eww!" Courtney screeched. "You're so weird!"  
Rachel rolled her eyes. "You'll understand in five years."  
"Yeah, right. Sure I will."  
"Are they still playing?" Rachel asked. She glanced toward the field just as Keith dove toward the ground and caught the Snitch. She sighed. "Oh well. Looks you like you guys are going to win the House Cup this year."  
"Really?" Courtney asked happily.   
Rachel nodded. "You're in first place now."  
"Hey, Rachel," Courtney said as they walked around the bleachers to the crowd gathering on the Quidditch field. "If I don't bother you, why were you trying to turn my hair green?   
  
Sunday afternoon seemed especially quiet in comparison to the excitement following the Quidditch game on Saturday. And, with many of the students in Hogsmeade, the first years were practically the only ones left in the Gryffindor common room.   
"Rachel was actually pretty cool about it," Courtney told her friends for the thousandth time. "She even even promised to buy me some candy today."  
"Really?" Ben asked in a high-pitched voice. "That is, like, sooo cool!" He pretended to toss his hair.  
"Shut up!" Courtney exclaimed defensively.  
"I think it's great," Stacy stated. "So, you're not mad at her anymore?"  
"Not now anyway," Courtney answered. "I will be soon though."  
"Why?" Peter asked curiously.   
Courtney grinned. "Well, we never get along for very long." She sighed. "I'll be mad at her again in no time. Aren't siblings the best?"  
"Weird," Peter remarked. "I guess I should be happy I'm an only child."  
"I wish I was one," Ben spoke up. "My sister gets on my nerves all the time when I'm home."  
"You have a sister?" Stacy asked. She couldn't remember Ben ever mentioning having one.  
Ben nodded. "Her name's Kathleen. She'll be here next year. That'll make my life so much fun."  
"My cousin's going to come here next year too," Stacy stated. She sighed miserably at the thought of going to the same school as Elizabeth.  
"Stacy!" Jane Martin cried as she ran into the room. She threw her arms around Stacy. "I am so sorry! I can't imagine how you're feeling now!"  
"Why?" Stacy asked. "What's wrong?"  
"Y-you don't know?" Jane asked. She pushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear nervously.  
Stacy's eye widened. "Know what?"  
Jane pulled an American entertainment magazine out of her robe pocket and handed it to her. Stacy felt her eyes get bigger.  
  
THE SPLIT THAT SHOCKED AMERICA  
See inside, for ALL the details on Tom and Natalie's seperation, what their closest friends have to say, and who will most likely win custody of their daughter Stacy.  
  
To Be Continued...  
  
Author's Notes:  
Sorry, that was probably the worse chapter yet. I know how I'm going to end this, but I have to come up with something to write about until then. I was planning for Stacy's parents to seperate eventually, so I just decided to do that now.  
This one was also kind of short. The next one will hopefully be better and longer.  
While I'm apologizing for everything I can think of, I should say I'm sorry for spelling/grammar mistakes.   
And, once again I must say PLEASE REVIEW!!! It's great when people do that. It only takes two seconds. No flames, though. But, reviews are great! =)  
- Hope 


	11. The Fight

The clock chimed twelve. But, Stacy Arrons could not sleep. She could not move. All she could manage to do was occasionally sniffle and grab another tissue. Stacy pulled her knees up to her chin and stared at the fireplace as though in a trance. In only a timespan of six hours, her entire life had been turned upside down.  
"How could I not have seen this coming?" She muttered, her eyes never leaving the empty fireplace. Even the once furious flames had died down. "What is wrong with me?" She exclaimed loudly. A little too loudly. Stacy stood up for a moment and waited for the impending footsteps of a prefect telling her to go to bed. But, no one came. 'No one even cares about me'. Stacy thought sadly as she threw herself onto the couch in the common room again. Everyone else had gone to bed an hour earlier, but Stacy was afraid to go upstairs. She was afraid of the comments her room mates, including her Hogwarts best friend Courtney, would say to her.   
'Everything would be fine if Jane's parents had never sent her that magazine!' Stacy thought bitterly. The magazine had been a hit with her fellow students. It had been passed around until every Gryffindor knew little Stacy Arrons was actually a huge celebrity with the Muggles. And, they all knew more about her parents' seperation than she did. While several of the Gryffindors had been sympathetic, many had teased Stacy mercilessly. Boys had followed her to dinner taunting her. Calling her 'Superstar' and saying she was just another bit of property for her mother to take from her father.  
Normally, this type of a statement would have rolled off of Stacy. She would have either laughed at the people or just ignored it completely. But, it hurt worse when her own friends turned on her. Courtney especially had been furious when she learned Stacy had kept something so important to her life from everyone. Stacy flinched at the memory of Courtney's rantings to her. "What? We aren't good enough for 'Academy Award winner Stacy Arrons'?" She had cried. "I'm sorry. I didn't know we were in the company of a real live movie star all of this time! I should have practiced my curtsy before coming here. I hope we haven't offended you!" Stacy had never seen her friend so angry. It was like she was a completely different person. Not that Stacy could blame her for being upset. Keeping secrets could never end happily for the secret keeper.  
The clock chimed again. It was half past twelve. Stacy pulled herself off of the couch and quietly made her way up to her bedroom. She collapsed on her bed in exhaustion without bothering to change into a nightgown or brush her teeth. She only wished the morning would never come.  
  
Of course, the morning did come. And, it came far too quickly for Stacy. Before she knew it she was shuffling toward the Great Hall for breakfast. Instead of sitting in her usual chair next to Courtney, Stacy made her way to an empty section at the opposite end of the table. Neither Ben, Peter, or Courtney would look at her as she passed them. It was enough to make Stacy want to go back to her room and hide under her blankets.  
"Feeling better, Stacy?" Keith asked as he sat down across from her.  
"I guess," Stacy replied glumly. She took a piece of toast and spread some butter and jelly on it, but could not bring herself to eat. She was afraid she would throw up anything she tried to take in.   
"I'm sorry about your parents," He continued. Stacy was surprised to see a genuine look of sympathy in his eyes.   
"Good morning!" Rachel chirped as she sat down next to Keith.   
"Morning, Rach," Keith said. He didn't seem at all surprised she was sitting at Gryffindor table. She was the only student to sit at another house's table that year.   
"How are you, Stacy?" She asked. "Did you sleep well?"   
Stacy nodded. She was relieved that Rachel had not asked her why she wasn't sitting with Courtney. "Did you?"  
"Why are you sitting with *her*?" Courtney demanded from the other end of the table before Rachel could answer.  
"What?" Rachel looked surprised.   
Courtney smirked. "She didn't tell you? She's a big celebrity now."  
"Actually, she always has been one," Jane cut in. "Ever since she was a toddler."  
"What's the big deal?" Keith asked. "Stacy isn't allowed to keep things from you?"  
"Well, she lied!" Courtney exclaimed.  
"When?" Keith asked.  
"She didn't tell the truth!" Courtney persisted.  
"When?" Keith asked again.  
Courtney shrugged and turned her attention back to Ben and Peter.  
"Don't worry," Rachel told Stacy. "She'll get over it. She always does. Well, except when she turns it into a grudge that she holds against you for the rest of your life. But, that's only happened to me once."  
"Why's she so mad at me?" Stacy wondered out loud.  
"Courtney gets her feelings hurt easily," Rachel stated. "She turns her hurt into anger. She's probably upset that you didn't tell her you were famous."  
"I didn't think it was important," Stacy said defensively.   
"It isn't really," Rachel replied. "But, everything's a big deal to Courtney."  
"I've noticed," Stacy said sadly.   
"Don't worry," Rachel assured her. "It'll work out."  
'I hope so,' Stacy thought. 'I really hope so.'  
  
Apparently, word spread quickly through Hogwarts. Everywhere Stacy went people called her 'Superstar' or 'Hollywood' and made some sort of comment about the article or her parents. It reminded Stacy of the day she returned to school after winning her Oscar. The only difference was that then people meant it as a compliment.   
Classes were especially difficult that day. The teachers did not act any differently toward her, but Stacy still had to sit at her usual place near Courtney, Ben, and Peter. It was almost impossible to work with them "ignoring" her.  
"Do I put the Rutaweed or the soil in my pot first?" Ben asked during Herbology.  
"The soil," Stacy replied. "You have to add the water to it before putting the plant in."  
"Did you hear something?" Courtney sneered.  
"Real mature, Court," Stacy muttered cheerfully.  
"So what do I put in first?" Ben asked again.  
"Stacy just told you," Justin responded. "Didn't you hear her?"  
"I didn't hear anything," Courtney answered. "Is Stacy here?"   
"Your hearing must be failing," Carrie joked. She winked at Stacy who smiled in response. At least Carrie and Justin weren't mad at her. Too bad they weren't in all of her classes.   
"My hearing's fine," Courtney remarked. "I just didn't hear anything worth listening to."  
"So, now I'm not worth listening to?" Stacy asked angrily.  
"Did you hear something?" Courtney asked again.  
  
By dinnertime, Stacy felt like she could strangle Courtney. Her 'friend' refused to leave her alone all day and had managed to turn Peter and Ben against her. Stacy couldn't understand why she was so mad. But, she did her best to avoid her. She sat with Penny Prickle at dinner in a chair as far away from her friends as possible.  
"Are you okay?" Penny asked her hesitantly. Normally Stacy hated it when people asked her that, but it was refreshing to hear those words after a day of being taunted everywhere she went.  
"I've been better," Stacy replied with a sigh. "Courtney's being really annoying about it."  
"Why's she so mad at you?" Penny wondered.  
Stacy shrugged. "She just is."  
"So, do you think we have a chance at winning the House Cup this year?" Penny asked a little too optimistically. It was an obvious attempt to keep Stacy's mind off her problems.  
"I guess," Stacy said as cheerfully as she could manage, which wasn't very cheerful.   
"Before you go," Professor Dumbledore called as he stood up. "I would like to remind you to please stay out of the Forbidden Forest. Mr. Filch has had to stop several students from entering the forest this week." Stacy noticed he was looking distinctly at a group of Slytherins as he said this. "Also, I would like to see Stacy Arrons in my office before she goes to bed." Stacy's mouth dropped open at this. Several people turned around to stare at her and Stacy thought she heard the word 'Hollywood' being muttered somewhere.  
"Stacy?" Penny asked after a minute. "Are you okay? Do you want me to come with you?" Stacy looked up and saw an actual look of anxiety on Penny's face.   
"I'll be fine," Stacy replied weakly. "Thanks, though." As if in a daze, Stacy stood up and walked over to the teachers' table. Then, she followed Professor Dumbledore to his office amongst the murmurs spreading throughout the Great Hall.   
"Have a seat, Stacy," Dumbledore said in an odd voice. It reminded her of the time she was seven and had broked her mother's favorite vase in the middle of a post-Oscar party. The type of voice that meant this is bad, but I am going to pretend everything's fine. Stacy sat down with a sinking feeling in her chest.  
Dumbledore cleared his throat and glanced sadly at her. "I received a letter today from your father. I suppose you already know about your parents?" Stacy nodded dimly. Everyone knew about her parents. "Well, your father wanted to tell you that he would like it if you came home for our spring vacation. He is temporarily living with your grandmother in England. He will meet you at King's Cross and take you to see your grandmother."  
"Sir," Stacy began quietly. "Why did he write to you? Why didn't he write to me?"  
If these questions surprised Professor Dumbledore, he did not show it. "He will explain that when he sees you. He has asked me not to say anything yet."  
Stacy looked at him curiously. "It has to do with my grandmother, doesn't it?"  
Dumbledore nodded, but did not say anything else. After several minutes of silence, Stacy bid him goodnight and left his office.   
  
The castle was abnormally silent as Stacy wandered through the hallways back to the Gryffindor tower. The silence was welcome in her mind after the day she had been through. Her mind had a lot to process.   
'Why can't I just be normal?' Stacy thought dismally. 'What is normal, anyway? Something I'll never be.'   
"What are you doing here?" A boy's voice cried from behind her. Stacy whirled around to see Keith talking to a woman dressed in a raggedy robe. Her head was covered in a scarf. Actually, Stacy couldn't tell she was a woman at first. It wasn't until she spoke that Stacy knew.  
"What do you think I'm doing here?" The woman answered with the most evil laughter Stacy had ever heard. Stacy quickly stepped behind a suit of armor. Something told her she did not want them to see her.  
Keith looked furious. "You won't get away with it! I won't let you."  
The woman laughed again, sending shivers up Stacy's spine. "And, how exactly do you expect to stop me? You hardly have the resources or the power? You're nothing, boy. Always have been, always will be."  
Keith grimaced. "You'd like to think that, wouldn't you? You would like to think I can't stop you. That you're all powerful. You'll see. Come May 15th." He turned and stalked off in the direction of Gryffindor tower at that. The woman stared after him, before walking away in the opposite direction.   
Stacy stepped out from her hiding place. Was it just been her or had Keith said that last part about May 15th a little too loudly?   
  
"Anyone want to play chess?" Ben asked glumly. It was nearly eight o'clock and he was extremely bored.   
Courtney looked up from her book and said she would play. Peter sighed and picked up Courtney's book, 'A Study of Rutaweed'. It wasn't the most interesting book, but it would keep him from dying of boredom.  
"Where's Stacy?" Peter asked, forgetting he was supposed to be mad at her.   
"I don't know and I don't care," Courtney answered as she ordered one of her players to move.  
"She's probably still at Professor Dumbledore's office," Penny remarked. "Poor thing. She's had the most rotten day."  
"She deserves it. After what she did to us," Courtney's voice trailed off.  
Ben looked at her, his concentration broken briefly. "What exactly did she do to us? "  
"She lied. Didn't tell us she was famous," Courtney replied.   
"You realize how ridiculous that sounds, don't you?" Penny asked with a smile.   
"It's not ridiculous!" Courtney insisted. "It's-"  
"Silly. Immature. Overly stubborn. Childish. Mean. Cruel. Take your pick," Penny said with such willpower, even her sister Joan looked shocked.   
"She's right, Court," Peter said softly. "Stacy didn't do anything."  
Courtney, despite her obvious embarrassment, persisted in making her point. "That's my whole point. She didn't tell us. Why not? Is she ashamed of us?"  
"I read an article about Stacy in a magazine for teenage Muggles," Jane stated brightly. "It was really interesting. She was only nine then. Had just won her Oscar. In it, she said she wanted to be normal. That she hated all of the attention people were giving her. She said she felt like she hadn't really done anything to deserve all of it."  
"See!" Penny cried triumphantly. "Stacy just wanted to be thought of as your average student here. She didn't want the attention her fame brought. She wasn't being snobby."  
The common room became silent for several minutes as people digested this information. Several people started to look at Penny with a newfound respect. It was the first time anyone really payed attention to anything she said. By the time Stacy returned several hours later, the whole incident had blown over and Penny finally had friends her age.  
  
While Penny was playing the role of her protective older sister, Stacy was lost. She wasn't sure how it had happened, but she had wandered so far away from the tower she had no idea where she was. Stacy glanced around helplessly. She thought she knew every hallway in the school by now, but apparently she was wrong.  
'Where am I?' Stacy thought desperately as she reached another dead end. It was getting to the point that even the sight of Peeves floating toward her with an armful of water balloons would be a very welcome sight. Stacy leaned against the wall and tried to catch her breath. It felt like she had walked the entire length of the school. To her surprise and horror, she abruptly fell right through the wall.   
"Who's there?" A man's voice yelled as she tumbled through the wall and landed on the floor on the other side.   
"Um, hi!" Stacy called as she pulled herself up. She saw an old man rushing toward her. Stacy glanced around the room and saw what seemed to be an apartment. Apparently, the man was living there.   
"Are you okay?" The man asked with a look of concern. "That sounded like it was a hard fall."   
"I'm fine," Stacy replied. She rubbed a spot of dust off of her robe's sleeve. "Sorry. I didn't mean to break your wa-" Her voice cut off as she looked at the wall and realized it was still in perfect condition.   
The man smiled at her. "That's just there to keep the unwelcome guests out. Who are you anyway? I take it you're a student here."  
Stacy nodded. "My name is Stacy Arrons."  
The man's eyes widened. "Arrons, eh? Is your father named Simon?"  
"That's my uncle," She replied. "My father's Tom. Do you know him?" The man stared at her for several minutes silently. "Hello, mister?" She asked nervously. She didn't like the way he was looking at her.   
The man smiled again. "I'm sorry. I'm afraid I haven't had many guests here. You'd think I didn't know how to talk to a person. So, you're Tom's daughter? Yes, I have met him. Nice boy."  
Stacy frowned slightly. There was something very strange about this man. "He's a man now. He's married and everything." Her face turned red. "Well, he was married. I mean, he still is. They'll work it out."  
"How long have you been going here, Stacy?" The man asked curiously. "Which house are you in? What's your best class? Do you play Quidditch?"  
"This is my first year. I'm in Gryffindor. I don't really have a best class. I like all of them. I don't play Quidditch. I'm not very good at flying," Stacy answered quickly. Why did he want to know so much about her?  
"You're in Gryffindor," The man repeated slowly. "That was my house when I went here. It's the best one if you ask me."  
"I like it," Stacy replied. She twirled a strand of her hair nervously. She wasn't sure why she was nervous, but something about the man frightened her. She couldn't help wondering if Professor Dumbledore knew he was living there. "Most of my friends are Gryffindors. Well, I mean were. Now I have more friends in Hufflepuff and Slytherin."  
"Slytherin!" The man jumped up in shock. "That always was a bad house. You-Know-Who came from there. So did every other one like him. Awful house. Nasty house."  
Stacy glanced at her watch. It was nearly ten o'clock. "I should be going. It's getting late and I have homework to finish."  
"Do you have an invisibility cloak?" The man blurted out. He was now pacing the room.  
"Um, yes I do actually," Stacy answered. "Why?"  
"Everyone should have one of those. They're very helpful. You'll need it many times if you're an Arrons. Arrons' always run into problems. They're drawn to them. Like a magnet. You'll see soon. You're too young to know the power that name can carry. Give it a couple years. Then, you will be begging for a different name. You'll see. Trust me, you'll see," The old man rambled. "I'm sorry. Please forgive me. I didn't mean to go off on you like that. You see, I am not used to being around people. They confuse me. It isn't you. Don't worry about that any. If you'll excuse me, I will be going to bed now."   
Stacy watched him wobble up the stairs which she assumed led to his bedroom with a mixture of amusement and pity. The poor man could barely walk up the stairs. Stacy left his apartment feeling dazed. She instinctively walked back through the wall and easily found her way back to Gryffindor tower. It wasn't until she was safely back in the common room that realized she hadn't asked the man who he was.   
  
The common room was still full as Stacy walked inside. People were everywhere. Doing homework. Talking. Playing games. Stacy didn't feel like dealing with any more insults, so she hurried up the stairs to her room quickly. She would do her homework in there.  
"Stacy?" Courtney's voice asked as she entered the room.   
Stacy didn't answer. She was still upset with Courtney.   
"Is that you, Stacy?" Courtney asked. Stacy saw her curled up on the window seat. Her eyes were glued on something outside. Stacy walked over to the window and peered out.  
"What are you staring at?" She asked coldly, trying to keep the interest out of her voice.  
"I'm so sorry," Courtney blurted out. "I've been a jerk all day. Please forgive me!"  
Stacy stared at her in surprise, but Courtney did not turn around. Was this a joke? "Are you serious?" She asked slowly.   
Courtney nodded and spun around to face her. Stacy could tell she had been crying. "Forgive me?"  
Stacy sighed. "Of course, I do."   
Courtney threw her arms around her friend. "Let's never fight again!"  
Stacy laughed. "Okay."  
"Want to see something weird?" Courtney asked her eagerly. Her eyes lit up happily in their usual anxious way. Stacy nodded and Courtney pointed to something moving along the edge of the Forbidden Forest. "See that? It's been doing that for the past hour."  
"What is it?" Stacy asked. She leaned in closer to get a better look.  
"I'm not sure," Courtney replied. "It looks like a monster doing some sort of mating ritual." Both girls laughed at this.   
"Should we tell someone? A teacher, maybe?" Stacy asked as the figure moved into the woods. "Maybe it's another Slytherin."   
Courtney's eyes lit up. "Better than that. Why don't we go after it?"   
Stacy looked at her in a mixture of horror and awe. "Are you crazy? We'd be caught in two seconds. Plus, the woods are dangerous. Hasn't Rachel told you enough horror stories about people who go in them at night?"  
Courtney jumped up. "I'm going. Are you coming?"   
Stacy sighed heavily. "I suppose I should. You shouldn't go alone."  
"Great! Can we take your cloak?" Courtney was already digging through Stacy's trunk for the invisibility cloak.  
Five minutes later, the girls were covered in the cloak and quietly creeping down the stairs. It was difficult, but they managed to get out of the portrait hole without anyone hearing them. They carefully opened the door to go outside and hurried across the lawn to the Forbidden Forest.   
Once inside, Stacy removed the cloak and folded it over her arm. Then, both girls pull out their wands for light. The forest was dark and scarier than anything Stacy had seen before. She grabbed Courtney's arm and they slowly disappeared into the woods.   
"Now what?" Stacy whispered as the reached the end of the path they had been following. The path had led them straight to the Whomping Willow.  
Courtney bit her lip nervously. "We can't just go back now that we've come this far. Do you see anyone?"  
"No," Stacy shivered. The forest was colder than she would have thought. She wished she had brought her cape with her. "Why don't we just go back? I'm tired and I haven't finished my Transfiguration reading yet."  
"Who's there?" A voice boomed. Stacy turned around to see Mr. Filch standing about ten feet away from them. She quickly threw the cloak back around Courtney and herself. Then, they made the light from their wands disappear by whispering 'Nox'.  
"Is that you again, Keith?" Filch yelled. "It's no use hiding."  
Stacy gasped quietly as something moved in the bushes behind them. She grabbed Courtney's arm and they jumped to the side. The bushes parted and Keith climbed out.  
"Get up here, boy," Filch yelled. "You can't go creeping around at night like this. How many detentions will take before you will give it a rest?"  
"I'm sorry. It won't happen again," Keith said in a particularly unapologetic tone.  
"Right. Of course it won't," Filch muttered. "I'll see you in detention tomorrow night."  
Once they had disappeared along the path, Stacy threw the cloak off again and whispered 'Lumos' to her wand.  
"What was that about?" Courtney asked in amazement. "My sister's boyfriend is the one who keeps sneaking into the woods?"  
"I guess," Stacy answered. Her mind was spinning, processing the scene she had just watched. Keith was interested in something in the woods. What and why?   
"You ready to go back up?" Courtney asked. She looked disappointed. Stacy knew her well to know she had been hoping to find something more interesting than her sister's boyfriend in the woods.  
Stacy didn't respond at first. She was trying to remember exactly what she had heard Keith say earlier that evening. "Is there something special that happens on May 15th?" She finally asked.  
Courtney looked at her strangely. "No. Why?"  
"I was just wondering," Stacy muttered as she pulled the cloak back over them.   
"Are you okay?" Courtney whispered as they crept back into the castle. Stacy simply nodded in response. May 15th. The date kept running through her head. Something was going to happen then. She was sure of it. And, she was going to be involved with whatever it was. Whether she wanted to be or not.   
  
The forest was never quiet, not even at night. But, this really didn't bother her. It was such a frightening place, the silence probably would have driven her insane.   
Jana Black settled down under a tree. She was awfully tired this particular night. She had spent much of it running around and hiding. The forest had been crowded tonight. Keith had been there again. Jana was sure he had turned every stone over and put his head in every bush in an attempt to find whatever it was he needed so desperately. Plus, Stacy and Courtney had been there. That was a first. Jana was sure Stacy saw her at one point. She had been staring directly at her hiding spot, but she didn't say anything.   
Jana shivered. It was an especially chilly night. She put another shirt on and curled up next to the tree. Maybe tonight she would get some sleep.  
  
To Be Continued...  
  
A/N:  
Sorry it took me awhile to get this part out. I hope the next one comes out sooner.  
As always, please review and sorry for spelling/grammar mistakes.  
Thanks! =)  
- Hope  



	12. Stacy's Diary Pt. 2

Author's Notes:  
I abandoned this story. I really did. I last updated it in May 2001. I actually never planned on writing anymore of it just because I never thought of it again. My life got busy and I lost interest in working on this fic again.  
I was bored the other night and I went through and reread several old fics that I wrote over the years. This one stood out to me because it bothered me that I left it hanging with a fairly bad cliffhanger.   
Well, I doubt that anyone noticed that, but I felt the need to say it anyway. I had 12 chapters out by the time I stopped. I just deleted the 12 chapter and wrote it over. It isn't the last chapter though. There will probably be about two more chapters before I'm done. And, I actually plan on finishing it this time around.  
Ok, that's all I wanted to say. Now, without any further ado, here's the much longer, hopefully better chapter 12:  
~  
  
March 2-  
I can't believe it! I think Spring is finally here. We had Herbology today and none of us fell down on our way to the greenhouses. That has to be a first since, well, last fall, I guess. There are only a couple weeks left until the spring holidays! I can't wait!   
  
March 17-  
Sorry I haven't written much lately, journal. I've been really busy. The year's slowly, but surely, coming to an end. So, the teachers are all starting to pile on as much work as humanly possible. I actually have to read two hundred pages for Potions by tomorrow. Ok, I know Snape did give us the assignment last week, but this week has been really busy. Oh well. I better get to reading. I bet we're going to have a pop quiz on the material. All two hundred pages of it!!   
  
March 25-  
Guess where I am? I'm on the Hogwarts Express on my way back to London. I can't wait to get there. I'm so excited. A whole week with my dad and Gran. I just hope that they finally tell me what's going on. I don't know if I'll be able to take it if they don't.  
  
Later, still March 25-  
Ben is being so annoying. His parents are making him come home for the holidays and he will not stop complaining. I wish that Courtney was here. She'd smack him on the back of the head for me. I sort of wish that I had stayed back at the school, actually. Wouldn't it be my luck that this is sort of the opposite of Christmas? More people are staying behind then coming home. Oh well. I'll be back at school soon enough, I'm sure.  
Goodness, if Ben does not shut up, I'm going to smack him myself!!  
  
March 26-  
I've been at Grandma's for exactly twenty two hours now and no one has said anything to me about what's going on. Dad isn't even here. Apparently there was some emergency editing job that needed to be done on his latest project. Gran isn't even sure if he'll make it back before I leave for school again. And, to top it all off, Elizabeth's here! Uncle Simon was called away to Japan again, so she got dropped off this morning. Now, I'm just waiting for that nasty Ryan Arnold to show up. That would just be the perfect addition for my wonderful break!!  
  
March 27-  
Can you believe it?? I have the best Grandma ever!! She called me down to breakfast this morning, saying that she had a surprise for me. So, I go downstairs, and sitting at the kitchen table was Mandy Payer! I can't believe Gran! She flew my Hollywood best friend all the way over here as a special surprise for me. I am so happy right now! Mandy's only staying for three days, but we're going to do absolutely everything! Well, if she ever wakes up, that is. She has a really bad case of jet lag. Elizabeth keeps threatening to do spells on her in her sleep, but I know she's bluffing. She couldn't possibly know any worthwhile ones, could she? Plus, I'm sure she doesn't even have a wand. I hope not anyway…  
  
Later, March 27-  
Mandy's still passed out on the living room couch. Gran's brewing a potion that will wake her up and help with the jet lag. Don't ask me how we're going to give it to her though. Mandy doesn't know that we use magic and it doesn't exactly look (or smell) like a soda. Oh well. I'll leave that to Gran. She's the brains in our family after all.  
  
Still Later, March 27-  
Gran took us to the cutest little café tonight after we got Mandy up with that fabulous "herbal tea" of Gran's. The dinner was pleasant enough, but I do think I am getting too spoiled with all of those wonderful meals at Hogwarts! Anyway, after dinner, we went to a show. It was this old musical that Gran says was my father's favorite growing up. It was pretty good, really. I'll have to get Dad the soundtrack for his birthday. Well, I think I'll try to get some sleep now. Gran says we have an early start tomorrow.  
  
March 28-  
Today was another busy day. My uncle Simon came back from Japan early this morning and took the three of us- Mandy, Elizabeth, and me- on a hiking "excursion" this afternoon. We didn't go very far. Just on a trail about a mile from Gran's. I think the main purpose of the excursion was to give Grandma some time without us. She really is looking awfully tired. I hope we're not making her worse. And, I really do wish someone would just tell me what was going on! Anyway, I was hoping that Simon's return meant that Elizabeth was going to leave, but it didn't. He apparated back to Japan this evening. Apparently, he spends an awful lot of time there. Elizabeth has her own room here and everything. That doesn't mean that she has to act like she owns the place though. This is still Gran's house!  
  
March 29-  
I can't believe it. Mandy's going home tomorrow morning- at 3 AM! This is our last day together until I go home for summer vacation. And, I don't even know if I'll be going back to California this summer. No one will tell me how my parents have arranged everything. Gran says Dad might show up tomorrow afternoon. It's about time. He was the one who insisted that I come home this week, after all. Well, I'm not going to waste anymore time writing now. Mandy and I are going shopping with Gran now. Elizabeth's coming too, but we're pretending she doesn't exist. Too bad she can't take a hint…  
  
March 30-  
Mandy's gone. I'm actually not that sad though. I still consider her one of my best friends, but I sort of feel like Courtney's my real best friend now. I suppose you can have multiple best friends, but, really, it isn't the same. I'm starting to miss everyone at school now. Only two more days until I get to go back… I almost said home. I guess Grandma was right. Hogwarts is my home now. Well, it's one of my homes anyway. It's more of a home than Gran's house.   
Anyway, Dad still hasn't showed up. He called this morning, but Gran wouldn't let me talk to him. She said that he said he's hoping to come by tomorrow morning. He's really wrapped up in this movie of his, she says. It's all he can think about at the moment. I guess I shouldn't be surprised. My father is really a big kid in that sense. His movies are like his toys and, when he starts playing with one, it's impossible for him to stop. Still, you would think he would take a few hours out of his busy schedule to come see his daughter. I know Gran isn't going to tell me anything. Not without him here. Oh well.   
  
March 31-  
Still no sign of Dad. I'm leaving for the train station in less than twelve hours and he still hasn't come by. He hasn't called either. This isn't like him. Even when he gets wrapped up in his projects, he still knows what his priorities are. Well, he does most of the time. Who knows? Maybe I'm being dumb and there really isn't a big bomb that they have to drop on me. Maybe he's working on what the new greatest movie ever made. You never know…  
Ugh, Elizabeth will not leave me alone. She is standing here, staring over my shoulder. She is so annoying and stupid and-  
  
Stacie is a big, fat, poo head!!!  
  
That was Elizabeth. Not me. I'm going to stop writing now before Elizabeth gives me another reason to want her dead. Have I mentioned recently that I can't wait to get back to school?  
  
April 3-  
Was it really just three days ago that I was looking forward to classes starting up again? It seems like ages ago. I'm back in school now, by the way. I was glad to be back, at first. Courtney was thrilled to see me. She literally pounced on me the second I climbed through the portrait hole. She's been going crazy with only Peter to keep her company. I don't see why though. I would much rather be stuck with Peter than Ben. At least, Peter doesn't make fun of my hair and my clothes and, well, me.   
Anyway, I never did hear from my father while I was at Gran's. He sent me an owl yesterday with a short letter explaining that he was incredibly busy and looked forward to seeing me when school let out for the summer. I also got a note from Mom. Hers was much longer than Dad's and was all about the latest gossip in her circle of friends. Really, if Mom ever gets tired of being in the spotlight, she would make a perfect gossip columnist.   
I got a note from Gran today with a printed out e-mail from Mandy and a short note from, ugh, Elizabeth. Gran just wanted to check in and make sure I was ok. Mandy's e-mail was actually a joint effort with several of my old classmates. They all sent me little messages and it was just really sweet of them! I think I've changed my mind again. I really do miss my La Anglia friends. Well, there's always this summer. If I make it back to California, that is. I still don't know what's going to happen. I read Elizabeth's letter last. I probably should have read hers first and saved Mandy's for last, but oh well. Elizabeth just wanted me to say that she was staying at Gran's all summer and looked forward to going to school with me next year. This was all dripping with sarcasm. That's Elizabeth for you. Sweet to glance at, sour to taste. Or something like that…  
  
April 9-  
I'm in Potions now and I really should be working, but I'm bored. This class is so boring, it isn't even funny. I guess that's why I'm doing badly in it. It might be better if-  
  
April 10-  
That is the first and last time I will ever write in my journal during Potions. I now have a detention, Gryffindor is short fifteen points, and my whole class all about Elizabeth, among other things I wrote about recently. Thank God we have Potions with the Hufflepuffs, not the Slytherins. I would never live this down if it was the other way around!  
  
April 13-  
I just had my detention. It wasn't that bad, actually. Well, I mean it wasn't that bad in comparison to some of the horror stories I've heard. I just had to dust a quarter of the shelves in the library. Madame Vasta is impossible to work for though. I had detention with three other students, but it felt like she was breathing down my neck the whole time. She can be really creepy when she wants to be!   
  
April 17-  
Do the teachers at this school get together and decide the best ways to make our lives as hard as possible? I had a pop quiz in all of my classes today. Plus, Professor Snape assigned us a major project that's due next week. And, we have a fifteen inch DADA paper tomorrow. I only have about six inches done! Well, it could be worse, I suppose. Ben hasn't even started his. He doesn't even know what he's going to write his on. But, it's times like this when I hate Courtney. She has over thirty inches written and says she could still go on for awhile more.   
Ugh, Courtney just reminded me that we had to read a chapter for Charms tonight. Professor Flitwick hinted there might be a quiz tomorrow, so I better go work on that. After I finish the DADA paper. Then, I should start thinking about Potions and, then, there's the Transfiguration reading and… I gotta go…  
  
April 20-  
I just got back from the funniest Quidditch match ever! It was Ravenclaw vs. Slytherin, so we didn't really care who won, but we figured we'd go anyway. We sat with Justin Taylor and he was so funny! He kept yelling comments at the Slytherins- his own housemates! They looked like they were ready to murder him by the time the game was over. It was hilarious though! Anyway, the game only lasted about five minutes. Ravenclaw is a pretty good team and Rachel Flowers is an excellent seeker, as long as she isn't up against our seeker, Keith Stewart.  
  
April 26-  
It's Courtney's birthday today. She's been really hyper all day, but that's ok. I think I'm getting used to her energy. I got her a book on real fairy tales and I'm pretty sure that she liked it. Peter got her a really pretty quill and Ben got her a rubber spider that squeaks like a mouse. I don't think she liked that gift too much. Rachel gave her a really cute t-shirt that says "sisters are forever" and a humor book about sisters. I think the two of them are actually getting along pretty well now. I know I've said that before, but I think it might be true this time. At least, for now.  
A group of us first years and a handful of the older students had a small party for Courtney in the library. Well, it wasn't really all that small, but it was quiet. Madame Vasta was staring at us the whole time, just waiting for an excuse to kick us out of her library. We were good though. Well, we were until Ben accidentally sneezed really loudly and we got kicked out. There was enough time for everyone to give Court her gifts though. She now has enough candy to last the two of us until the end of the year!   
  
May 1-  
I can't believe it's May. We have exactly a month and a half until school lets out. The teachers are still really piling on the work though. I'm busy most of the time. I haven't even had much time to think about May 15th. Actually, I just remembered that date today. I'm starting to get worried about it again though. It's so much closer now that May is actually here. Well, as Mom always says "worrying causes more harm than anything else in the world." If I ever really get that, I'll be amazed.  
  
May 3-  
I hate Potions. I HATE POTIONS!!   
Ok, I feel better now.  
  
May 5-  
The weather is actually really nice now. I just got back from taking a walk around the lake with Penny Prickle and it was wonderful. It was actually almost warm, not as warm as I'm used to back home, but nice still. Penny seemed really happy tonight. I haven't seen very much of her lately. She's actually become good friends with the other fourth year girls now. She seems happy about that and I'm glad. I sort of miss hanging out with her everyday though. Anyway, I think she sees me as a sort of little sister. That's cool, I guess. I've always wanted a big sister. It's just, well, she kept trying to give me advice tonight. She said that she thought I needed to stick up for myself more, especially to Ben. She said that I shouldn't let him tease me so much, especially since he's supposed to be my friend. I guess that she's right. I should be more like Courtney that way. Then, no one would dare to bother me.  
  
May 8-  
Can you believe it's Ben's birthday today? It was his birthday all day and he never mentioned anything to us? Peter's isn't until August and mine's five days after school lets out, so his was our last chance to celebrate in school. He never told us though. He said he didn't want to make a big deal out of it. We wouldn't have even found out about it if Wendy Tyson hadn't overheard Professor Dumbledore wishing Ben a happy birthday after dinner. Ben begged her not to mention it, but Wendy never could keep a secret. Courtney and I knew within minutes. I didn't have an actual present for him, so I just gave him one of my hair ribbons. I meant it as a joke since he liked playing with the ones I got for Christmas, but he didn't seem to think it was very funny. Oh well. I guess some people just don't get my sense of humor.  
  
May 10-  
Five days. FIVE DAYS??? How did it sneak up on me like this??  
  
May 11-  
There's no reason for me to panic, right? I mean, it's probably nothing. It was probably just that the castle seems so creepy at night and my mind was playing tricks on me. I mean, what could happen here with Professor Dumbledore and all of the teachers- including the legendary Harry Potter? No one would dare to do something with all of that. I'm probably making a big deal out of nothing. I do that sometimes…  
  
May 12-  
Ok, maybe it's just me, but things are starting to change around here. The teachers seem a little… on guard, I guess is the right way to put it. I guess something is going to happen on May 15. I mean, I don't think this is all in my imagination. That is more than possible though. I have been known to have an active imagination, after all. Maybe this is really nothing. I hope…  
  
May 13-  
I'm not even going to say it. I'm just going to put this journal down and go play chess with Courtney. That's what I'm going to do. It is.  
  
May 14-  
Something strange is definitely going on. I can't deny it anymore. The teachers were acting weird all day. Professor McGonagall was really distracted and let us have a free period. Professor Flitwick let us play games instead of the lesson he had planned. Even Snape was weirder than usual- he didn't give us homework for once. Courtney thinks he forgot. Ben thinks aliens have turned all of the teachers into zombies.   
Anyway, I'm starting to get kind of scared. May 15 is just hours away now and if Keith was right, something big's going to happen. Something that involves him proving he's more powerful than that awful woman he was with. Something that possibly involves me.  
Maybe it's nothing. It could all be in my mind, right? I mean, I haven't seen that woman around here since then. Maybe she just went back to wherever she came from. Maybe Keith was joking. Maybe he thought I was someone else or really didn't say something about May 15. Maybe he said April 15 and whatever it was has already happened.   
Well, there's nothing more I can do right now. I think I'll go to bed. Worrying never does anyone any good after all… Mom would be so proud of me if she heard me say that…  
  
~  
More Author's Notes:  
I might as well stick with my old tradition and thank with everyone for reading this. Also, there's the usual apology for spelling/grammer mistakes and the request for reviews.   
Last year, I was planning to continue Stacy's story after her first year. For awhile, I was even considering writing all seven years. I doubt I'll do that now. I'm starting college in about a week and a half. I know, you wouldn't guess it from reading this fic, but I am 18 and do have somewhat of a life.  
Anyway, I'm actually starting to like this story again. That might just be my current boredom speaking, but I think I will write at least a few more short stories about Stacy. I feel like I need to tie up so things with her before I can say goodbye to this fic forever. So, if you are at all interested in hearing more, let me know. Encouragement is always a good way to get me to continue a project. ;)  
Ok, well, that's it. I think I have enough notes now...   
- Hope 


	13. The Action Chapter

If you were to ask Stacy Arrons how she managed to survive her first year at Hogwarts, she would smile amiably and say that it was because she had such wonderful friends. If you were to ask her how she survived the events that occurred on May 15th that year, she would shudder and say someone out there had her back.   
  
The day began normally enough. Stacy woke up half past seven when her friend, Courtney, poured a glass of water on her head. Sputtering and coughing, Stacy shook a fist at her friend, but then promptly forgot all about it. Stacy hated mornings with a passion so great that nothing, not even her best friend dancing around their room while singing terribly off-key and shaking a -now- empty glass, could shock her. Mornings were meant to be bad, nothing could change that. And, if there was ever a morning that was not bad, it just meant the rest of the day would be so abominable that no one could survive it.  
  
The rest of the day flew by in a daze of classes and friends and other daily rituals. Stacy kept expecting something horrible to happen. She was ready for it. She half-expected the world to end at any minute and half-realized that she was being incredibly foolish. Stacy stayed alert all day. Her eyes were constantly roaming, constantly looking for possible signs of danger. Nothing out of the ordinary happened though. Classes went by, as usual. Meals were eaten, as usual. The day was just another day at Hogwarts.  
  
The night was another story though. After dinner, Stacy and her friends went to the library to finish up their homework. Courtney and Ben fought the whole time, as usual, about whether aliens existed. Peter tuned them out and focused on his reading. Justin sat glumly at the end of their table, giving and receiving glares from his fellow Slytherins. Stacy, herself, was the only one who acted at all differently. She had her Potions notebook open, but she never turned a page. Her eyes were still busy roaming.  
  
"Stace?" Courtney whispered, after the group had been sitting in the library for over an hour. "What's wrong?"  
"Nothing!" Stacy snapped, a little too quickly for Courtney's liking.   
"Is it your parents?" Courtney asked knowingly.   
Stacy flinched, but said nothing.  
"Stacy," Courtney pushed. "I know it's hard. It'll work out for the best though. You'll see." Courtney attempted a half-smile. Stacy bit her lip to keep from laughing at her friend. Times like this reminded her that she was the only actress in the group.  
"I know," Stacy assured her friend. "Well, I think I'll go back up to the common room. I don't think I'm going to be getting much done tonight."  
"It might help if you actually turned a page in your notebook," Ben smirked at her.  
Stacy rolled her eyes. It had taken her all year, but she was finally well-accustomed with Ben's "comments." After she had swiftly gathered up her many belongings, Stacy bid her friends goodnight and hurried out of the library.  
  
It was still relatively early as Stacy wandered in the direction of Gryffindor House. The sun was long gone, but it wasn't pitch black outside yet. She could still just make out the massive form that was Hagrid walking along the perimeter of the Forbidden Forest. The corridors were almost empty as most of the students were either in the common rooms or the library, but it wasn't too late to be up and wandering about- as Stacy soon found out in no uncertain terms.   
First, she saw Penny and Joan Prickle on their way to the Owlery with a note for their parents. They both stopped to chat for a moment with Stacy about how strange the teachers were acting and how unbearably noisy their common room could be sometimes. Next, Stacy ran into Greg Adams and Wendy Tyson on their way to the library. She barely escaped before Wendy actually managed to talk her ear off about how mean Professor Snape was for giving them such short notice for the next day's test. Then, moments later, Stacy literally ran into Professor Granger.  
"Sorry, Stacy," Hermione gasped as she helped her student pick up her books. "I really should be more careful when turning these corners. I remember all too well what it's like to be knocked over while carrying around a big pile of books!" A small peal of laughter escaped her. "You wouldn't happen to know if Professor Potter is still in the library, would you? I know he was covering for Madame Vasta earlier, but I think Professor Flitwick was supposed to take over for him around now."  
"He was still in there when I left," Stacy told her.  
"Good, I thought I might keep him company. He said he was going to be grading tonight and I know how lonely that can be!" She gave a small sigh. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow. I've decided it will be our final flying lesson. I thought it might be nice to give the class some extra time to prepare for exams. I know how stressful the end of the year can be!"  
Stacy smiled in agreement and parted ways with her teacher. She was surprised to find herself feeling nearly sad that their class was almost done. She was growing to enjoy flying, but she still felt like she preferred to keep her feet on the ground...   
"Stacy!" Keith hissed from behind her so suddenly that her heart jumped nearly as high as she did. "Come on, we have to go get it before it's too late."  
Stacy spun around and stared questioningly at him. "Get what?"  
"This isn't a time for jokes, Eliza!" He severely emphasized the last word. "We have to go stop her!"   
"Eliza?" Stacy's eyes grew round. "I'm not Eliza. I'm Stacy. Staaa-ceee!"   
Keith rolled his eyes. "Come on!" He grabbed her arm and pulled her down the hallway with him.  
Stacy gave up fighting it after a few seconds. He was obviously much stronger than she would ever be. Instead, she tried to focus on what was going on. She was being pulled along by a boy she thought she trusted, but who now seemed to be slightly insane and possibly thought she was a girl who had died a few hundred years before and who had been reborn and was now one of her friends. Oh, and she was still carrying along a heavy armload of books. It was all just too much for Stacy to grasp. Especially the books.  
"Keith," She started.  
"Michael."  
"M-michael?" Stacy's eyes grew round again as the puzzle started to make sense. "Well, w-whoever you are, can you at least let me put these-" She glanced down at the now overbearingly heavy load. "down somewhere. Then, we can go get whatever it is we're going to go get."  
"We don't have time," He snapped, but a look of sympathy had begun to play on his face. "Here, give me some of those." He took the worst of the load and they continued on, now in the direction of the Forbidden Forest.   
A good ten minutes had passed before Stacy had the nerve to speak again. "What are we going to go get again? I forgot."  
Keith came to a halt at this. "You really don't know, do you?" Stacy shook her head. "I thought you were just messing with me back there, but…" His voice trailed off. He dropped her books with a loud thud and grabbed her shoulders. His glare seemed to penetrate her skin. "You aren't Eliza."  
"That's what I was trying to tell you! I said that back-"  
Keith wasn't listening though. He was too busy pacing up and down the path while muttering- almost- incoherently to himself. "If you aren't 'Liza… I was so sure… Rachel's sister said you had bad dreams…"  
"Dreams?" Stacy spoke up, another piece of the puzzle in her mind was falling into place. "Did you send the dreams?"  
Keith spun on her. "So, you are Eliza?"  
"W-well, no," Stacy began. "I'm-"  
Keith grabbed her shoulders again. "Tell me everything you know."  
Stacy glared up at him. "I'm trying to! If you'd just let me get a word in!"  
"Fine, go ahead, I'm all ears," Keith snapped.   
"I'm a feeler," Stacy explained, slowly, loving the power she was feeling then. "It's a trait my family gave me. I'm guessing that you were trying to send a message to the Eliza- the real Eliza- and somehow it got sent to me since I'm extra-sensitive to these things. Before you ask, I don't know if the -real- Eliza got the messages too, but I do know who she is." She paused, really enjoying the power her words had on him. "She's one of my friends- Jana Black."  
Keith's face scrunched up at this. "Isn't that the Hufflepuff who disappeared last winter?" Stacy nodded, slowly, savoring the power rush. "Damn it! She could be anywhere by now!" Keith looked like he was ready to murder someone.  
"Or, she could be right behind you," Came a small voice from, well, right behind them.  
Sure enough, there she was. Jana, somehow, looked exactly the same and completely different from when Stacy had last seen her. Her hair was longer and not so clean. She seemed to have lost more than a few pounds. All in all, it was quite obvious that she had been living in the forest for awhile.  
Jana smiled, a weak smile, but still a smile. "I was wondering when you would come for me, Michael" Her smile grew as she noticed Stacy hovering nearby. "Oh, hello, Stacy. I was wondering if I might see you again."  
"Do you live here?" Stacy asked, her eyes now as round as dinner plates.   
Jana nodded and grinned. "It's not so bad once you get used to the odor."  
"Only you could manage to survive in that torturous swamp!" Keith exclaimed, his face a mixture of what Stacy took to be amusement and pride.   
"Aren't there a lot of mon- I mean, horrible animals?" Stacy gasped.  
"Don't speak badly of my friends!" Jana mock-scolded. "Well, I suppose they really are horrible. I've never thought so though. I think they rather like me, actually." She turned and directed her gaze at Keith. "So, are you going to kill me now, Michael?"  
"Of course not," Keith gasped. "Did you really think I came back just to kill you?"   
Jana shrugged sheepishly. "Why else would you come back?"  
Keith looked at her a moment, then taking a deep breath, he began to talk. "I think there are some things we should clear up. First of all, neither of us were to blame for any of the problems our family had." He took another breath. "It was all Aunt Gertrude's doing."  
"I knew it!" Stacy exclaimed- a little too brightly, causing the siblings to look at her like she had suddenly grown another head. "I mean, I didn't know it exactly, but I knew it sort of. Like, I figured that it couldn't be either of you because that was way too obvious and-" Their looks were priceless. "Continue."  
Keith smiled slightly. Stacy might not have been the bravest or the smartest person in the world, but she was good to have around during a crisis. For entertainment purposes anyway. "I'm sure you remember hearing about Atha, Eliza. Father used to tell us about it all of the time."  
"That was the sword," Jana said, slowly. "The one that was said to be the best in the world, if I'm not mistaken. What does that have to do with anything though?"  
"You don't know? I could've sworn I sent a dream about that," Keith shook his head. "Anyway, Gertrude wanted the sword. I don't know why exactly, but it was an obsession of hers. She spent her whole life searching for it, researching it, studying how to fight. It drove her mad in the end. I knew it, but no one believed me."  
"I remember," Jana interrupted. "You were always telling Father that she was ill in the head as well as the body."  
"She never was ill in the body," Keith said gravely. "She faked her whole sickness. I figured that out when I arrived early for my weekly visit with her. She was performing a spell. I'm not sure what it was for, but I knew then- and I swear it now- that it was not a good one. She tried to make me forget it, but I managed to move before the spell hit me. That was the day I burned her house down. It was a mistake, really. I didn't know then just how far she had gone. I thought she died, we all did. She was good at faking though. After I had escaped, she drank a potion for protection. It allowed her to remain alive even after we had buried her."  
"How is that possible?" Jana asked.  
Keith waved an impatient hand at her. "We don't have time to go into the specifics. Basically, she lived. I don't know how she did it, but she did. She came back to our house and threatened me. She killed our parents while I could do nothing. Then, she did the memory spell again. This time it worked. The rest, I suppose, you know. I thought you were the killer, Eliza. I really believed that. It wasn't until my own death, a good sixty years after yours, that I realized the truth. I followed your spirit. I made sure I was born again around the time you were."  
"Why?"  
"Don't you see, we have to stop her. We have to get the sword before her."  
Jana shook her head. "How? We don't know where it is, or where she is, or-"  
"Yes, we do!" Keith exclaimed. "She is at Hogwarts. She came there this year as the librarian-"  
"I knew it!" Stacy cried, happily. "I knew Madame Vasta was evil! She's just too…" Stacy shuddered for emphasis.   
"The sword is here too," Keith continued. "It's in the forest. Well, she thinks it is anyway. She has been searching for centuries. She even kept up the search while she waited for her chance to be born again. So, I'm thinking she might be right this time."  
"Why is this happening today?" Stacy asked. "I know there's something important about May 15th, but, well, what?"  
"According to the stories, the sword can only be retrieved on the day you were born," Jana explained. "I'll give you three guesses when Gertrude's birthday was."  
"It can only be retrieved at midnight when there's a full moon, actually," Keith added. "That's why it's taken her so long, I suppose. She would have had to find the sword, then wait for a full moon to fall on her birthday, then-"  
"We better hurry," Jana interrupted. "It's going on ten now. No telling how long it'll take us to find it."  
"How will you get it though?" Stacy wondered. "It's only her birthday, right?"  
The siblings exchanged a glance. "We'll figure something out. It might be that we just have to distract her long enough for the opportunity to pass," Keith spoke up.  
"Don't worry," Jana told her. "We'll figure it out when we get there."  
"Ok, well, let's get going then," Stacy replied. "Should we split up or just stay together or what?"  
The siblings exchanged another glance. "You better get back to the school, Stacy," Jana said gently. "We'll take care of this."  
"You might need my help though," Stacy pointed out. "There's a lot of area to be covered and not much time."  
"This isn't your problem, Stace," Jana sighed. "I think this is something we need to take care of."   
Keith nodded in agreement. Stacy knew there wasn't any point in arguing with them. She wasn't even sure that she wanted to argue with them.   
Stacy watched as they walked off down the path. Together at first, then came the fork in the road. She watched them until they were out of her sight. Sighing to herself, Stacy gathered up her books, then, before she had a chance to talk herself out of it, she placed all of them back on the ground. All of them, except for her heaviest text. That one went with her as she hurried deeper into the forest.  
~  
  
Looking back, Stacy would never be able to explain what made her do it. She had never been, by any definition, brave. Normally, she would have jumped at the opportunity to take the easy way out of something. She would have been more than happy to leave the acts of bravery to those who truly were brave and actually had half a clue what was going to happen. This time was different. This time, Stacy just had to do something.  
The first hour was the easiest for Stacy. She was very determined and very stubborn and that combination kept her from giving in to the feeling of fear that kept creeping into her gut. That feeling gradually began to spread though. After the first hour, Stacy suddenly became certain that she was going to be lost in the woods forever or eaten by a wild animal at any moment. She had heard all about the horrible kinds of creatures that called the forest their home and she was now certain that she was going to meet all of them. At once.   
The forest was terrifying, especially when you were a first year, alone, and already scared out of your mind. Stacy kept thinking that she heard someone- or something- behind her, but whenever she turned around, there was nothing to be seen. She kept hearing animal sounds. She heard birds screeching and wolves howling and what sounded like a tree being snapped in half. She never saw a thing though.   
Stacy kept going though. She had originally chosen the path that Jana had taken. She never saw her friend though and, after coming across more than a handful of forks in the road, Stacy was now certain she would not ever find Jana. Not that she was sure she wanted to find Jana. Her friend would probably just insist that she return to the school immediately. Stacy wasn't sure what she was more scared of- finding Jana and being told to go back or not finding anyone ever again.   
It was now half past eleven. Stacy had searched every inch of the paths she crossed. She had looked in the trees and in the bushes and in the grass. She had seen nothing though. She had not even seen any animals, besides an owl or two and a large colony of ants. She was starting to feel like she was the only being in the forest.  
It was at this moment that she heard it. A crunching sound, from somewhere in front of her. Stacy slowed down and made an effort to walk as quietly as possible.   
Just ahead of her, about ten feet down the path, three figures were standing close together. One of the figures seemed to be holding onto the others' necks. Stacy could sense the hostility and tension before she could hear anything.  
  
"We don't know where it is!" Jana was insisting. "Honestly."  
"I know you do," Gertrude sneered. "If you two brats think you are going to keep this from me, you are greatly mistaken. I have worked too long and too hard to have it taken from me now."  
"We don't know any more than you," Keith exclaimed. "Honestly."  
"Fine, then, it won't matter any if I kill you."  
  
Those were the words that drew Stacy from the shadows. Swinging as hard as she possibly could, she heaved her textbook in Gertrude's direction. Keith was sprawled out on the ground, unconscious, before she realized her aim was slightly off.  
  
"Stacy!" Jana cried in surprise as she continued struggling to break free of her aunt's grip.  
"Well, thank you, Miss Arrons," Gertrude replied in her prim librarian's voice. "You have just saved me a bit of effort."   
"I-I-I," Stacy stuttered, before realizing she didn't know what she was going to say. Instead, she dropped down and tried, in vain, to wake Keith. Her aim may be off, but Stacy could hit hard when needed.  
"Now, I have less than a half hour to find that sword. Perhaps, I could persuade the two of you to help with my search," Gertrude asked, one eyebrow cocked with sheer amusement. "Eh?"  
"Never," Jana said. "I'd sooner die."  
"That can easily be arranged, Eliza, dear," Gertrude smiled bitterly. "And, you, Miss Arrons?" Stacy stopped slapping Keith's face long enough to shake her head and stutter something about agreeing with Jana. "Very well. You leave me no choice-" She reached for her wand.   
"Run, Stace!" Jana yelled as she took her chance to finally break free. She grabbed Stacy's arm and they were gone before Gertrude had time to think of a spell. The girls took off down the path in the direction Stacy had come from. Stacy honestly felt that she was moving faster than she had ever gone before.   
"How do we get back to the school?" Jana panted as they rounded a tree.   
"Um.." Stacy thought for a moment. "I-I'm not really sure."  
"Keith!" Jana cried out, suddenly. "We left him. How could you leave him?"  
"Me?" Stacy squeaked. "You were the one who dragged me out of there be-"  
"We have to go back!" Jana was already sprinting back. Stacy followed, naturally.  
  
No one was in sight when they returned. There were no footprints, no sounds, nothing. The only way they knew that it was the same location at all was that Stacy's textbook was still on the ground where it landed after hitting Keith in the head.  
"Where'd they go?" Jana gasped. She leaned against a tree to catch her breath. She looked exhausted. Stacy was willing to bet that she hadn't slept at all for a long time.  
"It must be nearly midnight," Stacy thought out loud. "Gertrude's too late, right?"  
"I hope so," Jana panted again. "Come on. Let's get out of here. We can go back to the school and get help."  
"I should have done that to begin with," Stacy scolded herself. So much for her being brave. All she had caused was more trouble.  
  
It was well past one before Stacy could finally see Hagrid's hut. "We're almost there," She called over her shoulder to Jana.   
"Stacy!" Hagrid boomed when he opened his door. "What're yeh doin' here at this hour?" He paused, suddenly noticing Jana. "Is that-?"  
"Hello, Hagrid!" Jana exclaimed. She seemed to be perking up now that they were out of the forest.  
Hagrid shook his head a couple times, then threw on a coat. "I better get you two up to the school. I imagine Dumbledore's lookin' to speak to yeh."  
"Wait, Hagrid," Stacy cut in. "Keith-"  
"Is up at the school already," Hagrid told her. "I saw him and the others go up at least an hour ago." Jana and Stacy exchanged a baffled look. "Well, let's go then. It's far too late for you two to be up and wandering around out here." He place a firm arm on each girl's shoulder and they all walked up to the castle.   
~  
  
Author's Notes:  
This chapter wasn't very good, but oh well. It was still an important one. Pretty much all of the "action" took place here. There will be one more chapter, maybe two, to tie up the rest of the strings.  
I'm hoping this made sense. As I said last time, I neglected this story for over a year, and, well, I can't remember exactly how I had originally imagined this all ending. I think it was something like what happened, but oh well..   
Anyway, I'm still actually planning on possibly writing some more about Stacy after I finish with "Fame." Possibly. I leave for school in a couple days, so I'll try to have the last chapter(s) out by then.  
Ok, well, as always sorry for spelling/grammar mistakes. Also, this time I'm saying sorry if this didn't make any sense. Hopefully the things that didn't make sense for you are the ones I'll touch on next time.  
Also, REVIEW!!!   
- Hope 


	14. The End

Stacy Arrons stretched her arms above her head and yawned. 'What time is it?' She wondered. After a brief search, she consulted her watch and learned it was a quarter past two. In the afternoon. Stacy yawned again and stood up.   
  
Her dormitory was empty. Judging from the neatly- for the most part- made beds, Stacy felt it was safe to say her room mates were long gone. Stacy yawned once more and stretched her arms again. She had slept for almost twelve hours, but it felt like she had been up all night. In a way, she had been, actually. She had been dreaming all night and, as anyone with vivid dreams can tell you, that can be just as exhausting as going without any sleep at all.  
  
Stacy gathered up her things and marched over to the bathroom. After a leisurely shower, she felt much better. So much, in fact, that she decided to take in a class. She pulled her Hogwarts robe on and hurried out the door to see if she could make it in time for Transfiguration.   
  
Normally, Stacy would have been in deep trouble for missing her morning and, as it turned out, her afternoon classes, but she was excused this day. It was May 16th. One day after, what Stacy felt, the most traumatizing events of her life had occurred.  
  
Looking back, it was mildly blurry. All Stacy could really remember was that she had spent a good portion of the night running. Running through a dark, dangerous forest. Alone. Scared out of her mind.   
  
Stacy sat down on a couch in the common room. It was completely empty except for herself and one of the fourth year's cats. The cat was curled up in a chair on the opposite side of the room and seemed far too occupied with its ball of string to pay any attention to Stacy. Stacy slipped her robe off and folded it under her arm. Perhaps she really was too tired to go to class afterall.   
  
Stacy closed her eyes and allowed herself to sink back into the couch cushions. The memories of the previous night began to play before her eyes. She could see herself running. She could hear Jana and Keith arguing with their awful aunt. She could see Gertrude's eyes. They were so evil looking that Stacy shuddered at the memory. She could remember the feeling of power when she threw her textbook. And, she could remember the moment she realized her aim had been off.   
  
After that, the memories grew even blurrier. The combination of exhaustion, terror, and confusion had played with Stacy's mind at the time and she still wasn't quite sure she understood everything that happened. She remembered running off with Jana. She remembered Jana remembering they had somehow managed to forget all about Keith. She remembered hurrying back and discovering they were gone. She remembered getting lost with Jana as they searched for a way out. She even vaguely remembered the relief both girls had felt when they saw Hagrid's hut in the distance.   
  
Then, her memory got even worse. Most of her memories were scattered and mildly confused. Jana actually fell asleep on the walk back to castle and Hagrid had to carry her most of the way. Stacy had yawned and staggered, but she was, at least, technically awake when they went up to Professor Dumbledore's office. She thought she had been anyway.  
  
When they reached the headmaster's office, they found Keith, Gertrude, and- Stacy had to blink her eyes several times to be sure- the strange man who lived in the wall. He hadn't seemed so strange then though. Unless her mind had been playing tricks on her, Stacy could have sworn that the man actually winked at her.  
  
They talked for awhile. The whole group of them, that is. Stacy couldn't remember much of what was said. She was fairly certain she dozed off a few times. She remembered the strange man saying that he had heard the legend of Atha. She remembered him saying that he had studied the legend and he knew for a fact that there was no such thing. It was just a myth. She couldn't recall exactly what Gertrude said then- this was one of the times when her exhaustion got the better of her- but when she opened her eyes again, the woman's eyes were very red and she appeared to have tear-streaked cheeks.   
  
After that, Stacy slept for a bit longer. When she opened her eyes again, Gertrude was gone and so was Jana. Keith whispered that Gertrude had been "taken away" and that Hagrid had carried his sleeping sister up to her room. Stacy asked him where Gertrude was taken, but he just smiled- the sort of smile a shark gets before they attack- and said that she was where "they" could keep an eye on her. Stacy vaguely remembered nodding. This had made perfect sense at the time. Then, her tiredness struck again. She could sort of recall Keith half-carrying her back to Gryffindor Tower. That was it though. She wasn't sure how she got into her bed or how her textbooks came to be neatly piled on her trunk or how she was so sure she was excused from her classes. But, those were tiny mysteries compared to the puzzle she had just seen be solved. And, Stacy really was far too tired to think about anything just then.  
~  
  
When she woke up again, she was still on the couch in the common room, but now it was nearly full. Strangely, the noise level was down to a low rumble though. Stacy sat up and rubbed her eyes a few times. Courtney was sitting next to her, absorbing her Charms notes. Peter and Ben were sitting on the floor playing a game of cards.   
"Hey guys," She said weakly, smothering a yawn. It was ridiculous how tired she was.  
"Stacy!" Courtney cried. Her notebook flew off her, hitting Ben in the head, as she lunged for her friend. "Are you ok? What happened? They wouldn't tell us anything! I was so scared. You didn't come back last night and no one had seen you. Well, Penny said she saw you in the hall, but no one thought you made it back up here. And, that's where you said you were going. And-"  
"Breathe," Ben commanded, shoving her notebook back at her. "So, rumor has it that you were in the Forbidden Forest, is that true?" He raised a very skeptical eyebrow.  
"It is," Stacy said, struggling to keep the growing sense of pride out of her tone.  
"Oh, that's no big deal," Courtney replied, with a casual wave of her hand. "We've been in there before."  
"This time she was alone though, right? And, it was really late. At night," Peter spoke up. He beamed up at Stacy, but she could tell he was mildly jealous that he hadn't been a part of the adventure.  
Stacy sighed a small sigh, but told them- and, later, the whole of Gryffindor House- the entire story. Well, all that she could remember anyway. Make that all that she could remember that didn't have anything to do with her being a feeler or the dual identity thing. So, really, there wasn't too much of a story to tell. Her friends were still highly impressed. Their "little Stacy"- as Ben called her- had survived the forest, alone, in the middle of the night. No one ever questioned why "that little, mousy Stacy Arrons" was in Gryffindor again.  
~  
  
After the dread and terror leading up to and including May 15th, the rest of the year seemed very easy to Stacy. Even final exams didn't hold the same anxiety they had caused her before. If there was one thing to be said about Stacy's adventure, it was that it marked a change for her. She was still very shy and she still blushed at the drop of a hat. And, really, she probably would always be that way. Now, she knew that there was something in her that was good to have during an emergency. Call it stubbornness, call it determination, call it whatever you want. But, it gave Stacy a much needed confidence boost.   
  
Before she could believe it, the year was over. It had gone quickly some of the time and had dragged other times. But, it was over. Gryffindor won the House Cup, due largely to their spectacular Quidditch season. It was announced that Professor Potter would be returning as the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, thus breaking the long-running streak of teachers filling the position for just one year. Along with this announcement, came two others like it. Professor Granger would not be back as a first year flying instructor since Madame Hooch had confidence that the new class would be far more obedient than Stacy's. Instead, Hermione would be filling the library position left open by Madame Vasta's departure.   
  
Also, Professor Binns had decided that he was tired of teaching and wished to spend his time lurking around his favorite corridor. Rumor had it that, a group of seventh years had thought a good prank would be if they all actually informed the teacher that he was dead. He hadn't taken the news very well and his resignation had been in by the following morning. This happened around the first few weeks in May. Stacy now realized that her worries concerning the teachers' odd behaviors had not been solely in her mind. They just had been caused by a very different situation.   
  
The most surprising part of this announcement- for Stacy anyway- was who was to take over the History of Magic classes. Professor Dumbledore stood up at the end of the year feast and introduced the students to a good friend of his, Professor Rornas. Stacy nearly spit out her juice from the shock. It was the strange man from the wall. And, this time, Stacy was quite certain that he did wink at her.  
~  
  
If Stacy had found the ride at the beginning of the year exciting, this one was nothing short of thrilling. She got into a compartment with her friends again, but this time they were among the noisier groups on the train. All day, people were coming and going.  
  
First, the Prickle sisters came in for a visit. Penny was beaming. Professor McGonagall had all but told her that she was going to be a prefect the following year. Joan was slightly sad and very nostalgic. She told the group stories from her seven years at Hogwarts, offered advice, and wished everyone the best of luck. They all promised to keep in touch with the sisters and crossed their fingers in hope that Penny would officially become a prefect.  
  
Justin Taylor showed up minutes later. He had tried sitting with a group of Slytherins. His father had been after him to become friends with them, but he couldn't take it anymore. He stayed with the Gryffindors for the rest of the trip.   
  
Mary and Carrie Sarers turned up later on, along with several of Mary's friends from Ravenclaw. Stacy didn't know any of them very well, but they had fun talking and trading candy. Stacy made several trades which she was very proud of. Carrie stayed after Mary and her friends left. Carrie and Justin complained about their housemates for awhile and then everyone got to work on the giant pile of candy they'd gathered.   
  
Their Hufflepuff friends came around a bit later and helped with the candy collection. Jana seemed much happier now that everything had calmed down. She pulled Stacy aside and told her that her life was going back to normal now. She was coming back to Hogwarts and planned to stay all seven years. Stacy was very glad to hear this. She had been worried that Jana might disappear again or just wouldn't come back the following year. Besides Jana, the other Hufflepuffs were the same as ever. Wendy was, if possible, even more talkative than ever. She had an unofficial talking competition with Courtney and won, no ifs, ands, or buts about it. Steven grunted a few times and the compartment smelled infinitely better once he had departed. And, Greg was Greg. He was just as happy and kind and wonderful as when he first came to school. Even more so, Stacy thought, now that he had his buddy Jana back.  
  
Jane Martin poked her head in shortly after the Hufflepuffs wandered off. She didn't say anything to anyone other than Stacy. All she really wanted to know was if Stacy was going to be making any movies that summer. Stacy just smiled and said, coyly, that she was weighing her options. Her mother would have burst with pride to hear that.   
  
Keith and Rachel Flowers were their last guests. They came around when the train was pulling into the station. Rachel sat down with her sister and Keith motioned for Stacy to come outside. He apologized- again, for possibly the thousandth time- for everything that had happened. He blamed himself entirely for Stacy's troubles that year. He said that he should have thought a feeler might be at the school and that they could have picked up on what was going on and that he was a horrible, terrible person. He just hoped Stacy would forgive him. Stacy told him, again, that she was never upset. He told her to let him know if he could do anything to help her. Ever. Just say the word. Stacy smiled and said that wasn't necessary, but saved the offer for possible use at a later time.   
  
The train came to a halt then and students began pouring into the station. Stacy dragged her trunks behind her, ignoring Keith's offers to help, and waited in line with Ben and Peter. Courtney stood right behind them with Rachel and Keith. They were at the back of the line, so it took a good half hour to get through. They didn't notice though. There was still some candy to be eaten and many friends to wave goodbye to.   
  
Stacy spotted her grandmother as soon as she stepped through the barrier with the boys. Her grandmother looked much healthier. In fact, she seemed to almost radiate healthiness. The sight of her glowing skin gave Stacy enough strength to ignore the fact that Elizabeth was there and apparently highly impressed that Stacy had two "boyfriends."   
  
Stacy said a quick goodbye to all of her friends and went out to the car with her grandmother and cousin. She was going to stay at her grandmother's overnight before catching a flight back to California. Stacy's parents had arranged it so that Stacy would stay in America with her mother until the end of July, then she would fly back over to England and spend the rest of the summer with her grandmother and, hopefully, father. Stacy was beginning to think that she might never see her father again though. Not as long as he was able to keep making movies, anyway.  
~  
  
"Stacy!" Natalie Arrons squealed, louder than usual. There were reporters lurking around, afterall. "Stacy, darling! I'm so glad you're home, angel!" She threw her arms around her daughter. The cameras went wild.  
  
"Hi, Mom," Stacy whispered. Maybe it was just her, but it seemed like the reporters were using brighter flashes now.   
  
"Did you have a good term, dear?" She wrapped her arm, protectively, around her daughter and they started for the door.  
  
"I did," Stacy began. Her mother paused to sign a few autographs. "I learned a-a lot of stuff. And, I made some great friends and-"  
  
"Natalie, is it true that Stacy has been away at school all this year?" A reporter yelled from the back of the crowd.   
  
"I went to the moon, Mom. Did you know that?" Stacy asked, a touch of bitterness present.  
  
Natalie ignored her daughter and moved herself to a part of the terminal with a more flattering light source. The cameras went wild, again. "It is. My precious baby spent the whole year in Scotland at a boarding school. She loved it, blessed girl, but I missed her so much. She wouldn't even come home for the holidays!"  
  
"Right, I was far too busy to come home for Christmas," Stacy said with as much sarcasm as she could manage.  
  
"Stacy," Another reported called. "Are you still interested in acting?"  
  
"Do you have a boyfriend?" Yet another wanted to know.  
  
"Did you *really* miss your parents?" One demanded. A murmur went through the crowd as they waited for the, hopefully, juicy answers.  
  
"I'm very tired, Mom," Stacy replied, in a voice so mature her mother had to do a doubletake to be sure it was really her daughter. "I'll go wait in the car until you're done here."   
  
With that said, Stacy Arrons, former Hollywood darling, turned her back on the press, her mother, and her future as a star. It was a symbolic moment, but still a true one. And, it shook the world. Well, it shook her mother's world anyway. As if that even counts…  
~  
  
Author's Notes:  
It's 3:30 here now, but I couldn't sleep. So, I decided to work on this some more. I think I wrapped up everything I had to with this portion of Stacy's story. I have decided to write some more though, later. Not tonight. Two chapters in one night is more than enough for me.  
Anyway, I hope you liked "Fame." I don't think anyone reads this, judging from the reviews I get now, but oh well. If you are reading this, then I hope you liked it.  
Sorry for any mistakes. There are bound to be more than a few since I'm actually tired now.   
Also, REVIEW!!!!!   
- Hope (who should've been asleep hours ago since she has to get up almost early) 


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